Trevor Engleson had the persona of a man on his way up. Born in Great Neck, Long Island, New York, in October 1976, he was educated in his hometown before studying journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He was also as markedly ambitious and driven as Meghan. He had started off on the lowest rung of the ladder, informing the producer Alan Riche that he wanted to do what he did. Riche suggested that he first work as an agent, and got him a job at the Endeavor Talent Agency. Trevor, however, blew it when his boss, the film script agent Chris Donnelly, was away and he was caught sending out unsolicited scripts on the agency’s letterhead. He was dismissed, but soon got another job as an assistant to his university alumnus Nick Osborne and his partner Jeffrey Zarnow at O/Z Films. He admitted they ‘needed a hustler who could bring food to the table,’ which Trevor did so successfully that when Osborne founded Underground Films, his assistant followed him, before finally taking the company over.
One thing led to another, and before the night was through, Meghan had hooked up with Trevor. Their romance thereafter moved at a quick and decisive pace. She moved in with him before a year was out. This suited her well. Living with Trevor, who was earning good money, took the financial pressure off her, but she couldn’t live off him entirely, so she had a succession of jobs while waiting for her big break. These included acting as a hostess in a Beverly Hills restaurant, teaching gift-wrapping in a local store, and working as a calligraphist doing invitations and envelopes for special events. She was proud of doing the invitations for the singer Robin Thicke and the actress Paula Patton’s wedding in June 2005, and claimed that calligraphy not only earned her good money but also gave her something to do while waiting around at auditions. It also set her apart from the other hopefuls. She felt it was a ‘classy’ thing to do, and by this time Meghan was well on the way to developing a ‘classy’ persona. Some people found her demeanour ‘sophisticated’, while others regarded her as ‘pretentious’ and ‘full of crap’, in an early indication of the way Meghan would divide, and has continued to divide, opinion. Although the producers of Suits sang her praises publicly, another Hollywood producer told me that Meghan Markle was not ‘well regarded in the industry,’ but now that she is the Duchess of Sussex, ‘people who wouldn’t give her the time of day’ are now happy to consider doing business with her. Success does breed success, and I know from friends of hers that ‘Meg is focused on success and doesn’t really care if people don’t like her. As long as she’s getting what she wants, they can feel how they please.’ This is not a view that others agree with. They say that Meghan loathes rejection, and while she pretends not to mind it, she ‘nurses a slight like no one else.’
Trevor and Meghan ended up living in a series of elegant rental houses, including one on Hilldale in West Hollywood and a colonial-style two storey in Hancock Park, a historic area in central Los Angeles developed by the oil magnate/philanthropist George Alan Hancock. Theirs was but one of the many distinctive, architect designed 1920s houses which make the area as desirable as it is, bounded by Wilshire Boulevard on the south and Melrose Avenue on the north.
By the time Trevor and Meghan linked up, he was on his way to becoming a successful producer and talent manager. He lived and breathed work. He spent his whole life reading scripts, pushing for sales, or partying. Meanwhile, Meghan lurched from rejection to rejection, with only sops in the form of cameos and walk-on parts to provide encouragement that persistence might win the day. She ‘encouraged’ Trevor to put her up for jobs, but he usually refused. He would only propose her when he thought she was well suited.
In his own way, Trevor Engelson had integrity. This, according to friends, would ultimately become a cause of resentment for Meghan. She found it difficult to forgive her boyfriend when he overlooked her for roles which she thought were perfect for her. Though she was forced to respect his viewpoint that putting her forward for roles he regarded as unsuitable would result in rejection for her and undermine his credibility in the industry, he was inadvertently feeding a cold fury which would come back to chill him to his bones in the future.
Meghan’s rage was something which she kept well concealed until she started writing an anonymous blog called The Working Actress. In it, she revealed how distressing she found it when she was turned down, or not considered, for roles which she knew she was perfect for, even though no one else agreed with her. She wrote about the distressing times she took to her bed crying her eyes out with a bottle of wine and bread for comfort, because she had not got
