Meghan Markle To Undergo Military ‘Hostage’ Training Before Royal Wedding

Actress Meghan Markle is all set to undergo military-grade training before she marries Prince Harry.

Markle will have to be equipped enough to handle every kind of pressure situation that being a member of the British royal family entails.

For this, the “Suits” actress will go through a strenuous training program under the Special Air Service (SAS) of the British army.

The training program will include conditioning Markle to react in terrifying scenarios, including that of being taken a hostage.

“If you can imagine her being put into a room, being treated as if she was a hostage, the room being stormed by the SAS, she will be put through that training,” Alex Bomberg, a former Royal Aide and CEO of close protection firm Intelligent Protection International, told the Independent.

Bomberg also said that Markle will not be able to move around the country as freely as she does in the United States, because as a member of the royal family, she will be entitled to around-the-clock protection.

“She won’t be able to come and go as freely as she would if she was a normal person,” Bomberg explained.

"Every part of her life now going forward, from anything from going to the dentist to having her hair done will be organized. All appointments are checked out so that the security team knows where her hairdresser is, they know where the exits are in the building and so on.”

Having to follow a “regime,” as Bomberg puts it, is something that many members of the royal family detest, in particular the late Princess Diana, who was also known as the “people’s princess.”

Nevertheless, it is an age-old way of life that is mandatory if one is born of royal blood or gets introduced into the British monarchy.

“Diana and Charles went through that training,” Bomberg said. “Pretty much every senior member of the royal family has been through that training. They would also receive training about how to behave without close protection i.e. what they might do if things go wrong.”

However, giving up her old life and integrating herself into a new and more challenging one might not be as difficult for Markle as people might think.

When asked if marrying into the royal family meant giving up her career as a television actress in the U.S., Markle said she did not feel like she was sacrificing anything.

"I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change," Markle told BBC during her first interview after she got engaged to Prince Harry. "It's a new chapter, right? And also, keep in mind, I've been working on ['Suits'] for seven years. We were very, very fortunate to have that sort of longevity on a series…I've ticked this box, and I feel very proud of the work I've done there, and now it's time to work with [Harry] as a team."