And there are certainly downsides to remaining in the House of Windsor.

For one, they would spend the rest of their lives navigating an archaic labyrinth of rules and expectations, many of them utterly demeaning. Markle will have to curtsey to the Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, for example, unless she is “validated” by encountering them while she is with Harry, in which case Eugenie and Beatrice will have to curtsey to her. British royals are also expected to be boring, an unwritten rule that has gotten Harry into some trouble over the years.

But Markle, in particular, would have to sacrifice a lot to attach herself to this old German line. She has already confirmed that she has given up her acting career to join Harry’s side, a sacrifice that famously haunted another princess, Grace Kelly of Monaco. Will Markle be satisfied by such a small world? “I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches — I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works,” she revealingly wrote for Elle in 2016.