Like many young girls growing up in Los Angeles, Meghan Markle dreamed of one day being a global superstar.

On her road to stardom, she followed the well-worn path of aspiring starlets by acting in her high school plays.

However, before even starting at the all-girls Catholic high school Immaculate Heart, located just around the corner from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Meghan already felt she was destined for greatness.

A scene in her and Prince Harry‘s 2022 Netflix ‘docuseries’ showed her visiting her elementary school and reading aloud a revealing letter she had written to her former principal when she graduated at the age of 11.

‘When I am rich and famous and I write my life story, I will talk about you and the school so you will be known worldwide’, she read.

So when Meghan started appearing in her high school theatrical productions over the next few years, it came as no surprise to anyone that she took it seriously and was very successful.

School reports mentioned her starring role in a three-day sell-out of Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex and great applause in Annie, Damn Yankees and Into the Woods.

But one downside of Meghan’s success at her school productions was the ‘intense jealousy’ she felt if someone other than herself took the limelight, according to a book.

Meghan Markle showed her star potential as a teenager when she was crowned the homecoming queen of her high school

Biographer Tom Bower claimed in his 2022 book Revenge, that Meghan became particularly irritated after one girl at her school got a job as an actress and two other girls had auditioned for the 1992 thriller film Trace of Red.

Her 80-year-old father Thomas Markle, who has been estranged from his daughter after didn’t attend her May 2018 wedding to Harry, told Bower: ‘She wants to be the star of the stage and the star in life.’

Bower claims that Meghan, 43, loved glamour and celebrity, using her father’s connections in Hollywood to launch her teenage career.

Biographer Tom Bower wrote his 2022 book Revenge about Meghan

It is claimed she asked her father to pay a professional photographer to take a ‘headshot’ of her and sent it to studios. He dutifully did so but she received no replies.

‘I want to be an actress’, she kept saying, according to the book.

Thomas even took Meghan to the Emmy awards ceremony when he was nominated for best lighting director.

After they walked down the red carpet, the 17-year-old said: ‘Daddy I want to be famous just like you one day’. Thomas nodded and went on to do anything to help make that dream come true, according to Bower.

He and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland had divorced when Meghan was six, but they raised her together, with the future duchess often seen around the sets he worked on.

Thomas wanted the best for his daughter, forking out on private elementary and secondary schools, including the $17,650-a-year Immaculate Heart school.

Thomas Markle has said previously he knew Meghan would be a star after seeing her perform in the school plays as a teenager

Thomas and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland (pictured all together) had divorced when Meghan was six, but they raised her together, with the future duchess often seen around the sets he worked on

Thomas wanted the best for his daughter, forking out on private elementary and secondary schools, including the $17,650-a-year Immaculate Heart school

Thomas also lent his skills as a lighting director to the school for its theatrical productions to make sure those on stage could be seen.

And it seems Meghan quickly became the star of the show.

According to Bower, the drama teacher Gigi Perreau noted her strong work ethic and self-confident performances.

But unlike most of the other children, Meghan had received extensive training from her father.

Bower, who has published a series of controversial biographies on famous faces in the past including Simon Cowell, Richard Branson, Tony Blair and Prince Charles, wrote: ‘Obeying her father, Meghan always perfected her lines and unquestioningly obeyed the director’s instructions.

‘His more important advice, after occasionally watching rehearsals, was to explain how best to hold her head, fixate her eyes, show her best profile and most important, look sincere.

‘Acting, he emphasised, depended on the appearance of authenticity.’

Meghan blossomed as she continued to gain attention and develop her acting skills, with videos and photos of her performances showing her usually with a smile on her face.

One downside of Meghan’s success at her school productions was allegedly the ‘intense jealousy’ she felt if someone other than herself took the limelight, according to author Tom Bower

Meghan was trained by her father Thomas on how to act, according to Tom Bower

She was clearly one of the most popular girls in her high school class, as she was crowned homecoming queen in 1998.

Thomas also commented on the effect that acting had on his daughter in a 2020 Channel 5 documentary, saying: ‘I think I gave her a sense of pride, I think I gave her a sense of duty and work, I think Meghan would say that I did a very good job as a father.

‘She was growing into a very nice young lady. I got involved (in school plays) because I watched a couple of their shows and I knew they needed a lot of work.

‘I just offered to come in and put some lights in, build some scenery and make the shows real shows. Meghan was in almost all those shows.’