#I think some people expect it to be just travel blogging. glamorous and exciting influencer stuff.

[jellogram]

Could you tell us more about travel writing? What does jt entail exactly and how did you get it

Hi! I recently answered an ask about how I got the job, but I can talk a bit more about what I actually do.

I don't want to be too specific because the more I talk about the company, the easier it would be to find out which one it is and dox me. But basically, most of the job involves finding the best ways to travel. I spend a LOT of time researching this. Most of that research is data and logistics and it's boring, but then we get to write about the destination itself and that's more interesting.

That is the bulk of my work. Additionally, I get to write long-form pieces on the side, and those are pretty much 100% my choosing. That is the fun part because it's all my own ideas and there's less grunt work. I get maybe 4-10 hours per week on that stuff.

Sometimes I can get the company to help me pay for travel, but it's only about the cost of one plane ticket so I have to use it wisely. In exchange for that money, I write a piece for the company about the destination/my trip. There's also an occasional mandatory trip that gets paid for and that I don't choose, but that's once a year or less. Otherwise, I pay for all my traveling out of pocket.

[atthebeautycooler]

Just the Tip Tuesday:  Newsflash! There’s still Money in Makeup!  10 Tips to put you on the positive money path by Margina Dennis

photo:  S. Reganato

This is a long one, so grab a drink and a snack!  And I decided to make this blog post more about putting yourself on the money path than glamorizing the high end salaries at the very top. I recently did a social experiment in a group of professional makeup artists and enthusiasts and asked with they thought the top, top, makeup artists in the industry were making.  The response, on average, was much lower than what the reality is in the industry. Top artists can be making in excess of $10K on a job. And yes they deserve it with the hard work, sacrifices, and abilities they bring to the table. They are able to create trends, create color collections for cosmetics lines and be creative directors.  I am also talking about people who have been in the industry 20+ years, are with top artist agencies, and working on top advertising campaigns etc.  There are also different tiers within those working on the very high end of the industry and they’re aren’t making $40K to do a runway show!   So everyone isn’t making those kind of numbers for jobs’ but making $2500, $5K or $7500 for a job is nothing to sneeze at either. There are also alot less jobs at that level of the industry.   I would consider myself someone who is on the high end of the mid-market of the industry who dabbles in the low end of the high market and is trying to dabble more.  :-) Getting to where I am now, took many years and alot of hard work/sacrifice and I made mistakes along the way.

 It also made me realize that this lack of understanding also contributes to the low rate thinking that is happening far down the makeup totem pole.  $300 in one day might be more money that than many people are making in their full-time job in one day, but that is comparing apples to oranges.  Let me introduce you to a reality that exists when you are working for yourself as a freelance artist: There is no guarantee of work - When you work for yourself, you will encounter slow times and busy times.  I’ve personally had months where I have worked 20 to 28 days and others 4 to 7 days.  You might have a great year one year and a very shitty one the next.  This is why your rates should be based on when you are least busy, not the most.  There is no way that you will have money in savings, for taxes, for a vacation, for a rainy day, for your kid’s college, etc if you are not thinking worse case scenario and planning for it.  And your rates should not factor in your spouse's job, or that other job that you have.  They aren’t part of your makeup business.  Think like a boss to succeed like one!

Here are some tips to help steer you on a success path.

1.  Save up ALOT of money from your day job and start looking to work on your craft on days when you are not working your full time job.  What do I mean by alot?  Ideally at least 6 months, a year if you can.  And downsize if you can into a cheaper living situation; i.e. roommates, moving back home, etc..  Also put the steps in motion to create a flexible work situation for yourself, so that you have money coming in while you are building your makeup business.  Whether that is working as a virtual assistant, bartending, etc.  You will also be less tempted to work on a job where the rate is lower than what it should be.  Doing big work for little money will hurt you in the long run and impact your ability to make more. Don’t be so anxious to run before you can walk. 

2.  Take business classes or read books on business.  Also offer to pay to pick the brain of an artist agent or a successful working artist who is in a major market regarding the business side of the industry so you know what to expect BEFORE you start putting yourself out there.  There are resources in our industry that will give you guidelines, but are not the end all because they aren’t current. I actually wrote about them in a blog post that you can find here: http://atthebeautycooler.tumblr.com/post/132411901634/fourgreatbooks

3.  Study classic photography images like Richard Avedon, Man Ray, Helmut Newton  etc. and see how their work influenced current top fashion photographers, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, and Patrick Demarchelier These guys were masters with lighting and the structure of a photo that still stand the test of time. Below is a mixture of work from the photographers’ I just mentioned. You need to learn what good photography looks like so that you do not waste your time.  And this does not mean taking a friend or a very commercial model and trying to pose her into fashion either. That will not result in a strong image for your book. Simple images that are lit well and cropped into a flattering image will make a stronger impact. Take some basic photography classes online from sites like Creative Live.

4.  Learn to work with what you have in your market so that you can use that and invest in working with those that will create even better for your and your book.  Sometimes you have to invest in traveling to get better images.  I did that so I was able to get better jobs in my smaller market because my work looked stronger.  But you have to have something to start with so that people will trust that you will deliver so that you can work up to getting better.

(this image is 18-20 years old and shot on film.  I BEGGED this photographer to give me a chance and his girlfriend was a real model.  This is bordering on fine art/fashion but is a great image and it helped me to get PAID model testing.)

5.  Start creating work that will help you succeed. This is a big mistake that newer artists (myself included) make the mistake of doing and they waste a lot of time and energy.  I’m going to show you some of my work that I did that was a huge time waste for many reasons.  Some of these images are PUBLISHED IMAGES, even COVER IMAGES.  They are now in the “what was I thinking”? hall of fame.  But the sooner you learn and recognize this, the sooner you will be on your way to better images, models, and jobs.  Here is a grid of “don’ts”:

Now I was very proud of these images and so were the team, but I so wish that someone had told me then what I know now!  Edgy only works when you have the right skill level and understanding in place and the right team to execute it.  Plus it was also a waste of time for getting real paid work. I know some of you are wondering what is wrong with that image on the top right and that was published in a national magazine for a beauty editorial that I actually produced.  I had a good girl who was completely wrong for what I wanted to do; Plus,  I was in way over my head with hair.  I needed a strong hairstylist and I needed to sit my ass down.  Such a wasted opportunity and that shoot could have been so much stronger  if done differently. The bottom middle one ended up on a cover of a magazine that is still in existence here in NYC. It  was straight up Michael’s Craft Store realness and not in a good way. And the prayer pose... not good.  And I plead temporary makeup insanity on the image in the left middle.  I knew it wasn’t working and I kept adding more, and more, and more.  That image got entered into a makeup contest :-(   

 Here’s a grid of ��dos”. I have intentionally put up images created  around the same time in my career but I started to get a clue that what I was doing wasn’t working.  Some of these images were created by photographers still in photo school and not by “seasoned”  shooters:

(I did all the of makeup and hair in the images except the Ducati one.  These images are 12 to 15 years old!  I also started investing in traveling to get stronger models too.)

6.  Get off of craigslist, model mayhem, bikini photo shootouts, glamour shoots, etc.  You gonna have to put in the hard work of actually finding the people who are working.  Now model mayhem can be a place to start initially to get the ball rolling but you have to put in place what I talked about earlier:  What to look for in good photography.  You’ll have better odds seeking out photography students.  The great jobs aren’t there either, they come from seeking out those who are doing these jobs and there are working photographers at every level.

7.  Stop taking career advice from people who are as junior as you are.  It’s like the blind leading the blind.  You are not going to get the best advice that way.  And when an artist who is doing work that you hope to be doing some day takes the time to help you, be thankful.  Don’t get upset if it is something you didn’t expect to hear. Many of us in the beginning think we are much better than what we really are. We get caught up in the excitement.  Instead, learn from what they are saying and use it to grow.  When I first started doing makeup and was taking classes, one teacher I had was really tough on me when she wasn’t being tough on others.  I finally asked her why she was being so mean to me.  So told me she wasn’t being mean, but that she saw potential in me. From that day on, I took to heart what she said and worked harder.  I am forever grateful for her honesty and tough love.

8.  Figure out what type of artist you want to be early on and then focus on getting REALLY REALLY GOOD on what that is first before you remotely try to put your own twist on it.  You don’t want to be a “jack of all trades and a master of none”.  Work on being a master of one.  It will help tremendously in branching out your skill level later.  And by the way, the first really good thing you should learn to master is CLEAN makeup.  It doesn’t matter what market you are in, you will be employable if you are good at clean makeup. You need to be good at clean makeup whether you are doing print, film, or runway. The fastest path to success is the straightest one.  Zip-zagging around will take you alot longer to get to the initial end goal of being a working makeup artist.

9.  Be willing to accept that the career does not happen overnight and that you have to put the right kind of work in order to increase your chances of succeeding. Also accept that it might not happen. I know someone who went through the pain and expense of going to law school.  It took him 4 attempts to pass the bar and then found he wasn’t a good lawyer.   Give yourself 5 years realistically for your career to start.  Arming yourself with the knowledge of how the industry works before you put yourself out there will save you so much grief down the road and will save you time in getting to your end goal.  That’s why you don’t want to jump in not understanding rates, negotiating, invoicing, contracts, etc.  I was speaking to a photographer last week who didn’t do the homework before he started charging and ended up charging a multi-billion dollar company $50 dollars for images (plural) and not $50 dollars per image which is also ridiculous and not a rate. He now does what I do and works with newer artists to help to educate them and consult with them so that they don’t get taken advantage of like he did.  He was only thinking of getting that name on his resume and didn’t think about what impact it could have on his career.  Lucky for him, he got schooled early before he become known as the very cheap guy who takes good pictures.  

10.  Know the worth of the job and learn to understand what the difference is between 1) truly “free”  work and 2) paid work that someone is trying to get you to work on for free or at a rate that is much lower than the value of the job.  Years ago, I was working on a lookbook being shot in a different state.  I was being paid my full rate in cash, plus I was reimbursed for travel for the photoshoot. One of the models on the shoot wasn’t being paid and was complaining to me about it.  She kept talking about how she kept doing things for free and but no one would pay her nor were any of the local modelling agencies interested in her.  I immediately knew what the issue was because hereshe was on a lookbook not getting paid where the images were going to financially benefit the designer. She lived in the smaller part of a mid sized market.   She had the height, size, and bone structure to be a model but had put absolutely no value on herself.  And I am willing to bet money that she was known as the free girl, which is also why no modelling agency was interested either.  It’s pretty hard to get a client to pay $1500, $2500, $5K or more for a model that has been peddled  around with zero value over and over again.  I told her her only chance to was to move to a different market and start all over if she was serious and learn not to give it away. She had completely sabotaged any hope of a career where she was.   The same goes for being a makeup artist.

Lastly, do your research and don’t rely on what is the fad is or what is trending on You Tube.  I can assure you that Val, Pat, Sam or other working artists aren’t applying foundation with a condom covered beauty blender, or with silicone breast enhancements.  There are many successful people in the industry who aren’t social media famous either.  Understand the difference between a working makeup artist and a social media influencer.  Sometimes they will overlap, but it is not common and they are completely different career paths. Understand that there are different types of makeup techniques out there and you need to be well versed as a professional.  Also realize the money isn’t where you think it is either unless you are at the higher end of the fashion industry and creating very high end work with high end teams and clients.  Commercial fashion and commercial lifestyle may not be exciting but it will help to keep a roof over your head. I know artists that do catalog work and that is all that they do and they make their living that way. 

(work keeping a roof over my head)  photo:  W. Hope.

I hope this sheds some insight and helps you to get focused so that maybe someday you will be one of the “chosen few”.  And if you need help, make sure, you are following this blog and also check out my BeautyBeauteBeauti website for information on a education both online and off, as well as career guidance.

Love and Lipstick,

xo Margina 

When Margina isn’t doing blog posts, makeup shopping or creating hands-on classes, she can found doing advertising and editorial work for clients such as MCM, Steve Madden, WWD, Scratch to name a few.  To see her personal work, visit  www.marginadennis.com. And follow her on periscope and instagram

[jeremiahandrewsphotography]

New Post has been published on Jeremiah Andrews Photography

New Post has been published on http://jap.goodgallery.com/blog/china-travels-march-2017-part-i-shanghai/

China Travels March 2017 (Part I - Shanghai)

China: March 2017 (Part I – Shanghai)

Many English signs and product descriptions are misspelled in China; a fun game if you pay attention

I went into the first leg of this journey having a few preconceived notions about China.  Here’s what I expected:

every place to be sardine-can crowded,

most foods to be completely obscure and (possibly) distasteful to my pallet,

people to show little-to-no emotion, and

horrendous air pollution.

I was only marginally accurate in my expectations … but, there is so much more to China than I ever considered!

Native speaking travel friends is a huge bonus when traveling in China

I have to begin by saying that our journey through the Middle Kingdom was made exponentially easier by traveling with good friends fluent in Mandarin. Yes, some businesses and taxi drivers do speak limited English, but it is very, very limited. Jeremiah prepared for the trip for about eight months working part-way through Rosetta Stone’s Mandarin program. He also created and printed a list of common phrases, pictures of important things (e.g. noodles, train, toilet, beer) in simplified Chinese characters, and pictures of hotel and train station addresses along our route … I, conversely, flew completely blind and culturally unprepared.

Shanghai is vivid, busy, and full of things to look at everywhere

Here is what I learned, in a nut-shell: Chinese are a lovely, proud people. Proud of their culture, skylines, cutting edge technological advancements, photographs, and language. The more I witness and learn, I think they have every right to be proud! There are things in China that make my brain spin (mostly in awe rather than disbelief).

One of at least a dozen nuclear power plants I saw from the train line to Xi’an

Don’t get me wrong … I am painfully aware of the obvious ecological issues plaguing this vast nation. One day in Shanghai (and worse yet, Xi’an) and my throat and eyes were begging for mercy from the chokingly polluted air. Similarly, my heart sank as we flew over heavily traveled sea cargo lanes, drove through land masses formed from compacted trash, and discarded dizzying volumes of plastic packaging during our stay. This nation is far from perfect, but their accomplishments are wondrous. I believe that more of the world’s future is influenced by China than we may want to admit (for better and worse).

Jeremiah does a marvelous job planning our flights and transportation for all of

Ctrip is a Chinese website offering great deals on airfare

our trips. Through trial, error, and word-of-mouth, he has gleaned a handful of little-known travel planning websites that are huge assets if you like to travel and save money. Preparing for this trip he used an online Chinese travel website called C-Trip to book really great deals on airfare.

Agoda is a great online discount lodging tool for international travelers

His favorite go-to lodging website is, hands-down, Agoda. Travelers of all budget ranges (hippy backpackers to high-rollers) can find deep travel discounts to fit their style on both sites. We save hundreds of dollars each year just by using these two websites!

Our Hainan Airlines direct flight from Seattle, Washington to Shainghai, China was comfortable and spacious

From the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport we enjoyed a sparsely populated direct flight on Hainan Airlines to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. I wish all international flights were this enjoyable (and roomy)! We arrived mid-afternoon on a breezy Tuesday feeling moderately well-rested. Greeted by friends at the airport, we were promptly whisked to the taxi queue and began the 50-60 minute journey into the heart of Shanghai.

Looking down from the 78th floor is mesmerizing and dizzying

As Jeremiah is a huge fan of exceptional views, we allowed ourselves to splurged on a room at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai for this first stop. The hotel itself is gorgeous; rich woods, countless mirrored surfaces, intriguing traditional Chinese design influences, and Hyatt’s impeccable presentation.  Our room was located on the 78th floor of this staggeringly tall building.

Even though these buildings vary greatly in height, they all tower above the city streets below

One entire window wall of our hotel room faced the Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center (affectionately nicknamed the ‘Bottle Opener’ by locals), and Shanghai Tower with the Huangpu River winding just beyond. I could have never left that room and still felt as if I had experienced something amazing in Shanghai … but we were just getting started!

This adventurous couple shares a kiss under the captivating Shanghai skyline they love.

Our travel companions have both called Shanghai home at different times in their lives, so they were excited to introduce us to their local friends and enjoy the city’s glamorous nightlife. There was no time for jet lag today!  Quickly, we settled into our room and freshened up. Within two hours of our arrival we were, again, out the door.

Hakkasan Shanghai is a beautiful stop for dinner or a quick drink before a night on the town.

We met up with an intimate group of vibrant, well-educated friends for dinner and drinks at Hakkasan. I highly recommend at least stopping here for one of master-bartender, Alan’s, scrumptious libations! I fell in love with a rosemary-infused gift to my taste buds called “Jade”.  The restaurant is comfortable yet elegant.  The dining room offers intimate seating areas decorated in rich jewel tones, supple fabrics and skirted by a stunning view of the Shanghai skyline.

Club Myst in Shanghai really knows how to rock a Tuesday night

Moving on from the restaurant, our growing group cozied up in a couple of taxis in search of someplace to get our boogie on; we found it at Myst. From the street we could barely hear the faint rhythm pulsing from inside.  We climbed the wide, black staircase to the club’s entrance. Almost as if my hesitation was expected, the neon red-lettered sign on the wall of the upper floor’s landing teased, “ARE YOU READY?” I’ll admit it now … my jet-lagged brain was NOT ready for the sensory overload that followed.

Colored lights, confetti and music on an unassuming Tuesday evening at Myst in Shanghai

The doors swung open into a gymnasium-sized room literally vibrating from the music inside. Blue and white lights pulsed over the teeming mass of dancing bodies on each of the club’s three levels. The entire wall behind the DJ booth was a digital kaleidoscope of light and color, ever changing with the beat of the music. What a party!

As if to punctuate the festivities, confetti rained down on us at regular intervals. We took turns throwing handfuls into the air and dancing it into paste underfoot.

We finally slunk back to our hotel around 6:00am as the sun began to rise over the waking city.

Morning or night, chongqing noodles are an exciting treat in China

We awoke only a few hours later to the call for a brunch of spicy Chongqing noodles we were told would “change our lives”. These noodles originate from the Chongqing area in southwest China and are called ‘xiao mian’ in Chinese.  Xiao mian refers to a group of plain noodles seasoned with vinegar, sugar, red oil, ginger and scallion. Sometimes the noodles and broth may be topped with meat.  Noodles in northen China emphasize the soup base and the quality of noodles, while Chongqing noodles are focused on seasonings.

We taxied under the Huangpu River to West Nanjing Road much the same as we had the evening before. As we drove through this sprawling city I couldn’t help but think that all of the storefronts seemed identical. Perhaps not identical … but a succession of the same stores repeated in random order. At one such row of non-descript storefronts we exited the cab, entered an unlabeled, white facade building, and ordered several bowls of spicy beef noodles with peanuts and greens.

After this meal of spicy Chongqing noodles our group left full and happy

Upon arrival, there was nothing noteworthy about the appearance of this restaurant.  Workers sat at tables in the back corner mashing peanuts and preparing other foods; customers sat cafeteria-style at long wooden tables and hard, wooden benches; a handful of faded, framed pictures of various soup dishes lined the walls at eye-level, and we even brought our own tissues/napkins and drinks (purchased from the convenience store across the alley). The noodles, however, did make the world right again!

Chongqing noodles have a wonderful flavor and zesty broth

Our oversized bowls were served brimming with crushed peanuts, chopped greens, strips of beef, broth, and noodles hiding below the surface. The slightly oily broth was fiery red throughout, dotted with orange and red chili flecks. We anxiously cooled our dishes and then happily wept as the spice filled our senses (and sinuses). I am so glad I packed extra tissue packets! Even though we were achingly full at the end, friends still eagerly picked over the empty bowls for any morsels left behind.

Late morning gloom turned into rainy afternoon skies and chilling wind. We gathered with friends again as dusk fell and headed out to glimpse the lights of the city. We started the evening with a sunset view from the second highest observatory in the world, the 119th floor of the Shanghai Tower.

Standing on the street below these enormous Shanghai skyscrapers gives a small idea of their enormity

Fun Fact: the Shanghai Tower stands, currently, mostly empty. Yes, this 137 floor behemoth of a skyscraper (5 basement levels, 127 floors above ground and 5 podium floors) uses electricity (daily) on every floor, and only operates businesses on a few of the basement levels. Weird, right?!

The architecture of the Shanghai Tower is beautiful and intricate (even down to the details at the basement escalator)

Anyhow, we wound our way from the entry ticket counter (the price for taking the elevator to the sightseeing deck is CNY 160 per adult, CNY 90 for children between 3.3 and 4.6 feet, and this service is available from 9:00am to 9:00pm) down several levels of spacious escalators to the stark white, and very dotted escalator queue.

Friends having fun in front of the amazing view from the observatory floor of the Shanghai Tower

Entering the elevator meant passing (for an ever-so-short moment) over a howling gap filled with biting air. The ride was lightning-fast (55 seconds to travel up 119 floors) and so smooth. As we reached our stop, the car swayed and stalled in its tracks and sent all our stomachs to our feet. Jeremiah glanced down the chasm while exiting and stopped in his tracks. He held onto the door, swayed, and giggled nervously. I hate heights, so I nudged him impatiently forward without looking into the abyss between.

West-facing dusk view from the Shanghai Tower of the bustling city below

The mouth of the elevator emptied into a beautiful yet simple doughnut-shaped space ringing together an observatory deck, gift shop, gut-clenching simulated shattering glass floor (complete with sound), seated cafe area, and local-area history placards. On the north side, the evening’s storm whipped rain against the glass and only offered limited visibility. The southeast lit up bright along the winding industrial riverside. Finally, the sun went down in the west beyond the Bund area in a haze of smog and rain. Every visitor walked laps around the observatory taking in the enormity of the structure as an accomplishment … and the view didn’t hurt!

Shanghai Financial Building and River view from the observatory deck of the Shanghai Tower

I imagine that vantage probably allowed you to see for 50 miles on a high-visibility day. The Shanghai World Financial Center appeared dwarfed by the new Shanghai Tower and I couldn’t help but be amazed at how quickly the Chinese culture strives for the next great thing, even to the end of one-upping itself. I heard there is another tower being built in China now which will be taller than the Shanghai Tower … wow!

Admittedly, the sunset in Shanghai wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the colored lights that began to dazzle us from the land below.

Playful couples in spectacular cities make taking amazing photos fun!

The landscape of Shanghai at night is stunning. Bright, dazzling lights adorning buildings, new and old, in a wash of vivid color. What an amazing time to take lifestyle photographs of some great people! On the city streets of Shanghai, at the feet of these glass and steel sentinels we were (moments before) standing atop, the love for Shanghai our friends share came alive in electric images.

Young vibrant, couple under Shanghai neon night sky

We played with depth and perspective to capture the scale of the surroundings and had a blast creating a long exposure image of the couple hugging amidst the busyness of Nanjing Road (know as one of the most traveled shopping streets in the world). Across the Huangpu River on the Bund, Jeremiah was able to capture the couple’s favorite view, the whole Shanghai skyline, with them front and center.

Location photography sessions in an area of significance to a couple are always special! The subjects’ familiarity and pride in their surroundings comes across in the images we create … the results are magical.

Late night bites at a no-name shop don’t get much better than this … frog, fish, and spicy green beans, oh my!

We rounded out the evening with a late-night supper of grilled frog, pickled and spiced green beans, and a whole baked fish at an unassuming roadside cafe and liquor mart.  I had never tried frog before and was pleasantly surprised.  The mild white-meat flavor of frog is worthwhile, but I did find that the little bones throughout proved difficult when trying to negotiate with chopsticks … I managed fine once I got the hang of things, though.

As the city slowly grew quiet and the glistening lights of storefronts fell dark in the late night hours, we walked contentedly back to our hotel for much needed rest.  Tomorrow we would board a fast train for Xi’an and the ancient Terracotta Warrior Army excavation and exhibit site.  Although exhausted, we each buzzed with excitement for the adventure to come.

Until next time … Safe travels,

Shaunna & Jeremiah

[gta-5-cheats]

The days leading up to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first date

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/the-days-leading-up-to-meghan-markle-and-prince-harrys-first-date/

The days leading up to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first date

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In 2016, “Suits” actress combined business and pleasure when she traveled to London for work . . . and ended up falling in love with In this adapted excerpt from his new book, (Grand Central Publishing), out Tuesday, royal biographer Andrew Morton reveals the inside story of how the couple first met — from the friend who set them up on a blind date at Soho House to the heartbreaks that bonded them together, leading to May 19’s royal wedding.

As Meghan Markle nestled back in her seat in preparation for landing at Heathrow Airport, she had love and marriage on her mind. It was June 2016 and the “Suits” actress had just enjoyed a long weekend on the Greek island of Hydra — savoring wine, fresh seafood and yoga alongside her best friend from college, Lindsay Jill Roth, who was soon to be wed. As the maid of honor, Meghan had planned the luxe bachelorette bash, considerately organizing the party in this beautiful location rather than some raucous club.

“There is something wholly cathartic about being able to turn it all off — to sunbathe with no one watching, swim in the briny Mediterranean Sea, eat copious amounts of Greek salads and fried red mullets and toast to the day,” she wrote on her blog, The Tig.

The women, including Roth’s other bridesmaids, had undoubtedly discussed romance, the past and future. Meghan had also arranged a surprise wedding dress fitting for Roth — a TV producer who met the actress at Northwestern University — at the Toronto location of Kleinfeld Bridal boutique (the New York institution made famous by the TV show “Say Yes to the Dress”).

Meanwhile, Meghan’s own relationship with Canadian chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello had recently ended, having withered on the vine as both of their lives became busier and busier, and she likely relished time away from Toronto and the house they had shared there.

She was officially flying to London for a week to promote the upcoming season of “Suits” and to attend Wimbledon as a guest of Ralph Lauren’s fashion house. And, although the newly single actress was open to finding new love, she never expected to be set up with a real-life prince charming.

After watching her friend, legend Serena Williams, play in the tournament, Meghan reached out to Piers Morgan. The morning show host — with whom she was Twitter buddies — was a favorable media friend for an up-and-coming actress seeking her name in headlines.

The two agreed to an early evening drink at his local pub, the Scarsdale Tavern in Kensington. Morgan was a “Suits” fan, but this was his first time meeting the woman who played paralegal Rachel Zane. “She looked every inch the Hollywood superstar,” he later recalled. “Very slim, very leggy, very elegant and impossibly glamorous.”

Meghan sipped a dirty martini as they chatted about the series, her days as a “briefcase girl” on the game show “Deal or No Deal,” gun control in America, women’s rights, her passion for calligraphy and her one‑time ambi‑tion to be a TV presenter. She also admitted to Morgan that she was “out of practice” with the dating scene and trying to fend off “persistent men.”

Meghan Markle in 2013WireImage

Morgan was impressed. “Fabulous, warm, funny, intelligent and highly entertaining,” he later recalled. “She seemed real, too. Not one of those phony actress types so prevalent in California.”

While in London, reportedly from the end of June until early July, Meghan was working closely with Violet von Westenholz, a Ralph Lauren public relations executive. “How much more can I adore this gem,” an effusive Meghan wrote on Instagram of her new bestie. Not only is von Westenholz a well‑connected fashion maven, but her father, interior designer Baron Piers von Westenholz, is a friend of Prince Charles.

For years Violet and her sister Victoria had joined Princes Charles, William and Harry on annual skiing trips to Switzerland. In fact, Victoria was once seen as a possible match for Harry.

Instead, it seems likely that Violet set up Meghan and the prince on their blind date, which probably took place at Soho House during her visit to the city.

It is certain that Meghan was excited the day of her first date with Harry. On that day, the actress had lunch with her friend Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne at the Delaunay restaurant in the chic Covent Garden neighborhood. The two women met in 2014 while both working on the One Young World youth summit; Nelthorpe-Cowne later became Meghan’s agent. She told the Daily Mail last week how Meghan broke the news.

“[She] told me, ‘I’m going on a date tonight . . . With Prince Harry!’’ . . .  She whispered it so quietly I had to ask her to repeat it,” Nelthorpe-Cowne recalled.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing but I think she could barely believe it either. We were both extremely excited.

“I jokingly asked if she knew what she was letting herself in for and she said: ‘Well, it’s going to be an experience and at least it will be a fun night.’ ”

Had Meghan met Harry a few years earlier, she might have had a different expectation.

Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles circa 1995Getty Images

The prince would be the first to admit that during his 20s, his life had descended into “total chaos” as he struggled to process since the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 car accident in Paris.

Drilled with grief and absent a steadying, nurturing influence in his life, Harry had gone off the rails. He became notorious as an angry drunk who lurched out of London nightclubs, ready to throw a punch at the paparazzi who dogged his every footstep.

For years, he was carefully protected by highly paid public relations professionals who smoothed over his public escapades.

When he dressed up in a Nazi uniform for a “Colonials and Native” fancy dress party shortly before Holocaust Memorial Day in 2005, his minders accepted that it was a “poor choice of costume,” but that there was no malice in his decision. Similarly, when he was caught on video referring to a fellow officer cadet at Sandhurst as “our dear little Paki friend” and another as looking like a “raghead,” a pejorative term for an Arab, once again his p.r. minder Paddy Harverson came to the rescue.

If Meghan had been in his life at that time, she would not have been impressed by his casual racism. Nor were others. “He was a very lost young man,” a former royal official told me. “Harry was deeply troubled, unhappy, and immature, imbued with the slanted, quietly racist views of those from his class and background.”

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In 2012, he was pictured cavorting naked in a Las Vegas hotel room during a game of strip billiards with a bunch of strangers, some of whom had camera phones and uploaded photos of his antics for the startled world to watch. “Too much army, not enough prince,” was his rueful response.

But, in fact, the army had also helped give him a sense of purpose. At the end of his first tour of duty in 2008, he traveled with the coffin of a dead Danish soldier, which had been loaded on board his flight home from Afghanistan by his friends, along with three British troops all in induced comas who were being transported with their missing limbs, wrapped in plastic.

“The way I viewed service and sacrifice changed forever,” he recalled. “I knew it was my responsibility to use the great platform that I have to help the world understand and be inspired by the spirit of those who wear the uniform.” That flight set him on the trajectory that would culminate in the Invictus Games, an international multisport jamboree in which sick, wounded or injured servicemen and women compete.

In September 2014, after a year of planning, the first games, which involved army personnel from around the world, were held in London. The games were a triumph, giving the prince, who was due to leave the army in 2015, new focus and impetus. He was fully committed to using his unique position to help and encourage those who were at the sharp end of modern warfare.

“Since then, he has become the man he is today,” observes a former royal courtier. “It has not been an easy process. He has become more open and developed into someone who genuinely cares about social issues.”

By the time he met Meghan, Harry was also — after a series of failed romances — warming up to another big life change.

At a birthday party in January 2016, he told TV presenter Denise Van Outen: “For the first time ever I want to find a wife.” Three months later when he was in Orlando, Fla., for the Invictus Games, he again brought up the subject of love and marriage: “At the moment my focus is very much on work, but if someone slips into my life then that’s absolutely fantastic. I am not putting work before the idea of family and marriage . . . I just haven’t had that many opportunities to get out there and meet people.”

Prince Harry and Meghan MarkleGetty Images

But the difficulty of finding someone “willing to take me on” was an issue that always stayed at the back of his mind every time he met someone new. Were they attracted to him for his personality or his title?

As one of his friends pointed out to London’s Sunday Times, “You have to be a very special girl to want to be a princess.”

While Violet von Westenholz had the royal connections, Meghan’s friend Markus Anderson, the brand ambassador for Soho House who had just vacationed in Madrid with the actress, was on hand to rustle up a private room at the members-only club for an intimate evening away from prying eyes.

On July 1, 2016, Harry had just returned from France, where he had joined the then prime minister David Cameron, Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other dignitaries at a service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest days of warfare in British history. At an evening vigil for the fallen, Harry had read “Before Action,” a poem penned by Lieutenant W. N. Hodgson, who died in action. The event had been a moving reminder of the enormity of that day. He returned to London in somber spirits.

Until the day of the blind date.

Upon meeting Meghan and learning that she had given a speech at a UN forum, the prince realized — as he subsequently confessed — that he would have to up his game.

At the end of the evening, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, he to Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace, she to a hotel room at the Dean Street Townhouse in Soho, London. Both were buzzing. As Meghan relived the fateful evening in her mind, she perhaps wondered if she had been too eager to accept his invitation to meet again the following day.

���After the date, [Meghan] was telling me what a great guy he was, a real gentleman, genuinely nice,” “When I asked if she would see him again she said: ‘Well, it looks like it.’ ”

Prince Harry and Meghan MarkleAlexi Lubomirski/Courtesy of Kensington Palace/Handout via Reuters

As Harry later confirmed, the couple enjoyed back-‑to-‑back dates, making every minute matter before she had to fly back to Toronto on July 5 to continue promoting the new season of “Suits.”

The normally self‑-contained actress was smitten. Unable to keep her feelings to herself, her Instagram account gave away just a little; on July 3 she posted a picture of two Love Hearts candies that bore a simple message: Kiss me. Next to the photograph Meghan posted “Love Hearts in #London.”

She had even taken herself by surprise. When Harry asked if she would be interested in joining him on a safari for a few days in August — mere weeks after their first meeting — she found herself saying, “Yes, please.”

“I’m sure that the Botswana trip is what clinched the deal,” Nelthorpe-Cowne said. “When they were back, she showed me the most wonderful photographs of the two of them on her phone. They were so clearly already in love. She told me it was serious and they had started discussing the future.

“She said they’d said to each other: ‘We’re going to change the world.’ ”

From the book “MEGHAN” by Andrew Morton. Copyright © 2018 by Andrew Morton. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY. All rights reserved.