Tråden om Prins Harry, hertig av Sussex och hans maka Meghan, hertiginna av Sussex

For some black women, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's engagement was something more. One of the world's most eligible bachelors has chosen someone who looks like them and grew up like them.

It's the kind of storybook plot twist they don't always experience.

"It's that old 'Cinderella' tale," said Essence Magazine Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. DeLuca. "No matter what, we all have this fantasy of being swept off our feet by the prince. It's validation that, of course, we can be princesses. ... We need to see that as black women, that that's possible. That's something we don't get to see enough of, and that's what we're responding to."

Markle, whose mother is black and father is white, will be the first woman of color in modern history to join the British royal family. She joins famous black women like Serena Williams, rapper Eve and Janet Jackson who have recently found love outside of their race, to powerful men.

Ashley Mosley had been living in London this summer, across the street from Kensington Gardens. Engagement gossip between Markle and Prince Harry was all anyone could talk about at the black hair salon in her neighborhood. When the news broke this week, Mosley shrieked, "Oh my God!"

"'Coming to America' was fictional, but this is going to be real," said Mosley, referring to the 1988 Eddie Murphy film that imagined an African prince finding a black wife in New York.

Om en vecka gifter sig den amerikanska skådespelaren Meghan Markle med Storbritanniens prins Harry. Markle ger upp både karriär och privatliv när hon kliver in i det brittiska hovets regelstyrda tillvaro.

Nästa lördag, den 19 maj, gifter de sig i Windsor Castle väster om London – efter att brittisk press redan rapporterat om alla tänkbara detaljer kring paret i månader.

Markle kommer inte att kunna lägga till prinsessa före sitt förnamn, det får bara kvinnor som är födda in i kungafamiljen göra. Hennes officiella titel blir i stället troligen ”Hennes kungliga höghet prinsessan Henry av Wales”. Men om drottning Elizabeth erbjuder prins Harry ett hertigdöme kommer Meghan Markle att få titeln hertiginna.

Hennes blivande man ligger långt ned i tronföljden och lär aldrig bli kung. Själv får hon inte ens en egen titel utan kommer att tituleras ”Hennes kungliga höghet prinsessan Henry av Wales”. Likväl är intresset för Meghan Markle massivt.

Det råder bröllopsyra i Storbritannien. I centrum för den enorma uppmärksamheten står den blivande bruden, amerikanska skådespelaren Meghan Markle.

Here's how their big day is expected to unfold:

08:00 BST Invited members of the public start to gather on a lawn outside the chapel from where they'll watch the royals come and go

09:30 Chapel guests begin to arrive and must be seated by 11:15

12:00 The service in St George's Chapel gets under way in front of the 600-or-so guests

13:00 The newlyweds travel in an open carriage as part of a 25-minute procession from St George's Chapel through Windsor town.

Afternoon: There will be a reception at St George's Hall for the couple and their guests.

Evening: Prince Charles will give a private reception at Frogmore House for the couple and 200 close friends and family

All the main UK broadcasters are devoting much of Saturday to the occasion.

The coverage will be streamed live on the BBC News website or on BBC iPlayer.

The BBC has waived the TV licence fee for public screenings, meaning street parties and other special events can screen the wedding live without buying a licence.