What Prince Harry's rumoured romance is doing for Toronto-based Meghan Markle

Unless you're a fan of the series Suits or happened to notice the Fed-Ex delivery cameo in Horrible Bosses,chances are you didn't know who Meghan Markle was until her name came up as Prince Harry's rumoured new girlfriend.

The newshas impeccable timing, for the actress and for royal watchers. Just as North Americans buckle down for what's been a polarizingand, at times, stressful U.S. election campaign, there's a glimmer of levity.

"It has been greeted with great delight,"says Jessica Morgan,who co-wrote the fortuitous 2015 novelThe Royal We, about an American girl who falls in love with a British prince."The newscertainly came at a time when we all needed some juicy, exciting, royal, romantic gossip."

It's alsoraised Markle's profile considerably.

New clothing line

The same week that Markle's apparent romance was revealed, she also launched a clothing line with the Canadian clothing retailer Reitmans. Reitmans isn't exactly a go-to destination for fashionistas, so the publicity is undoubtedly helping the brand introduce their collaboration.

Or should I say re-introduce.People might not know that Markle's first linewith the company actually came out inthe previous season, with much less fanfare. Some ofthose earlier pieces were drastically reducedon the website's clearance section. Quite a contrast to the promotion behind her latest line.

"I think the fact that this news leaked the same week that her clothing line went for sale has caused a lot of side-eyeing, to be honest," says Morgan, who's alsoone half oftheduo behind the L.A.-based celebrity fashionblogGo Fug Yourself."It could well be a total coincidence but itseems extremely convenient."

Taking a cue from Suits

Part of Markle's sartorial expertise comes from the on-set wardrobe of perfectly tailored pencil skirts and dress shirts she sports on USA Network's Suits. The 35-year-old has been playing paralegal-turned-law-student Rachel Zane since the series began in 2011. Now that Markle's been thrust into the spotlight, her character on the show is getting more attention as well.

The upside: the legal drama could enjoy higherviewership, at least initially, as people curious about her tune in forthe rest of season six, premieringin 2017.The downside: reports suggest a few of her steamy love scenes from previous seasons onthe show are already getting a major audience boost, on, ahem, an X-rated site.

Toying with the idea

If you're going to be a prince's centre of attention true or notwhy not have fun with it!

That's exactly what Markle has been doing on social media since the story broke in British tabloidslast week. Neither confirming nor denying the rumour, she instead posted a series of pictures onInstagram to her 1.1 million followers, a number sure to increase. Yup, that's two bananas ... spooning.

She's also posted numerous photos from her recent back-and-forth travels to London. No one thought anything of them at the time, butit seems her Instagramfeed holds more mysteries than we thought.

Giving back

The actress's well-designed and prolific Instagram feed also highlights her humanitarian work, another side of her that's getting noticed. Markle is an ambassador for Canada's World Vision clean water campaign and attended the One Young World Summit in Ottawa this September to help promote youth leadership alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She's spoken about her work on her lifestyle website The Tig andalso penned an essay for Ellemagazinelast year about her experiences as amixed-race woman.

"I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job," the actress wrote in herguest column.

Some royal watchers suggest Marklemight have connectedwith Prince Harry through their volunteer work and possiblywhenhe was in Toronto to launch the Invictus Gamesin May.

Whether or not the rumour and/or relationship lastsisn't the point, says Morgan. It's the accessibility behind it. Markle is diverse, social media savvy and so close to home.

"It'sso much easier to relate to someone like that than it is to relate to, you know, someposh daughter of an earl," says Morgan."Itsort of lets you feel like, 'oh, that could have been me!'"