Meghan Markle Makes Royal History With Her Vote In The 2020 Presidential Election

Ahead of the election, the Duchess of Sussex was calling voters at home to remind them to cast their ballots and make their voices heard, all the while quietly gearing up to make history herself. Because Meghan Markle is voting in the 2020 presidential election, she's now become the first modern royal to cast their ballot in a U.S. election.

Markle, who now lives in Montecito, California after announcing she would be stepping away from her senior royal role alongside husband Prince Harry earlier this year, has reportedly cast her vote for the 2020 presidential election. A source close to the couple told Newsweek, "I'm not going to get into methods or timing, but can confirm that the duchess is voting in this election."

Markle's vote will mark the first time a member of the British royal family has taken part in an American election publicly, as People reported. Wallis Simpson, the American socialite who married King Edward VIII before he abdicated the throne in 1936, was also a member of the royal family, but it is not clear whether or not she exercised her right to vote.

Markle, on the other hand, has spent the last few months speaking up about the importance of voting in the presidential election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. As she said in a September interview on ABC for the TIME100 special, "Every four years, we're told, 'This is the most important election of our lifetime.' But this one is. When we vote, our values are put into action, and our voices are heard."

Markle may have cast her vote, but her husband Prince Harry does not have that same luxury. He noted in that same TIME100 interview that he has never had the opportunity to vote, "This election I'm not going to be able to vote here in the U.S. but many of you may not know I haven't been able to vote in the U.K. my entire life."

The couple have been careful not to specifically say which candidate they would support, although Markle was certainly vocal in her criticism of President Trump during the 2016 election before she was a member of the royal family, referring to him as "divisive" and "misogynistic." And in a recent interview with feminist icon Gloria Steinem for MAKERS, Markle did express enthusiasm for Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris when she said, "I'm so excited to see that kind of representation. You know, for me, being biracial, growing up, whether it was a doll or a person in office, you need to see someone who looks like you in some capacity. As many of us believe, you can only be what you can see."

We can't know for sure who earned Meghan Markle's vote. All we can know is that she made history by casting her ballot.