Prejudice against actress Meghan Markle may have more to do with jealousy about her dating red-headed royal Prince Harry, than anyone actually biased against her biracial heritage. In fact, most people would probably have remained unaware of the fact (or even care) that the “Suits” actress has a black mother (Doria) and white father, Emmy Award-winning director of photography Richard Markle of Dutch and Irish lineage, had the tabloids not sought to dig up dirt about the latest woman in Harry’s life.

At the same time, Markle, who was born and raised in Los Angeles County, CA not only identifies herself as a “mixed race” woman but embraces it.

What should be more important, however, is her humanitarian work, which is probably what has attracted the Prince to her (aside from her obvious beauty). In fact, Meghan became the Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada, visiting Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign this year. She has worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate and traveled to Afghanistan with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a USO tour in December 2014.

Should she and Harry eventually marry, Markle would not be the only biracial woman to marry into the royal family? In fact, Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, is believed to have been a mulatto, although “genealogical research remains inconclusive.”

Meanwhile many of Hollywood’s elite, from Dwayne Johnson (who is a mix of Samoan and black), as well as Vin Diesel (who claims to have a black father he never met) remain popular based on their talent and star appeal, rather than their ethnic backgrounds. And while a lack of “color” brought protests during this year’s Oscars, many of today’s most celebrated stars have proven that Hollywood may be more “color-blind” than the media gives it credit for.

Just in case you didn’t realize it, other interracial stars include Maya Rudolph, whose mother, singer Minnie Riperton, married white man Richard Rudolph. Kimora Lee Simmons fashion designer was born to a Korean-American mother and an African-American father, while Yankees great Derek Jeter’s mother, Dorothy, is white, and his father, Sanderson, is black.

Meanwhile, “Breaking Bad” actor Wentworth Miller was actually born in Denmark to a black mother and Italian father, and British singer Leona Lewis is the daughter of a white woman and an Afro-Guyanese father. Other musicians of mixed heritage include Pete Wentz of the Fall Out Boys who’s maternal grandparents are Jamaican, while Guns N’ Roses “guitar god” Slash (real name Saul Hudson), is the son of a black mother and a white father. In turn, “Parks and Recreation” actress Rashida Jones is the daughter of legendary music producer Quincy Jones and his white Jewish wife Peggy Lipton, best known for her role in “The Mod Squad.”

Jennifer Beals, best known for her roles in “Flashdance”, and “The Bride” (co-starring Sting) was born to a black father and Irish mother, while super diva Mariah Carey also has an Irish mother although her father was black and Venezuelan.
Although the list goes on and on, perhaps the biggest surprise of all when it comes to biracial celebrities is blue-eyes blonde actress Carol Channing, who revealed her father was a “light-skinned man of African American descent” in her 2002 autobiography “Just Lucky I Guess.”

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