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Just where exactly is Meghan Markle - and why do we care?

Meghan Markle was last seen at the wedding of Daisy Jenks and Charlie van Straubenzee on 4 August. [Photo: Rex]
Meghan Markle was last seen at the wedding of Daisy Jenks and Charlie van Straubenzee on 4 August. [Photo: Rex]

Just yesterday, it was reported that Meghan Markle had touched down in Toronto for the first leg of her transatlantic visit to see friends and family.

If reports were to be believed, the Duchess would spend a few days visiting the Mulroneys in her former hometown, before heading south to see her mother Doria in LA, and potentially visiting her father in Mexico to patch things up.

We were settled with this news. We were content. We knew Meghan’s agenda and a family reunion was even on the cards. Things were lovely.

To soothe our Markle cravings further, Kensington Palace even released details of the Duke and Duchess’s agenda for the upcoming weeks.

After a three-week hiatus from the public eye, we were practically clawing at our keyboards for any news about the Duchess’s whereabouts, almost to the point of worry.

But today’s news has thrown a spanner in the works: it’s been reported Meghan is in fact NOT in Toronto but with her husband visiting George and Amal Clooney at their lake house at Lake Como in Italy.

And don’t even get us started on the rumour she could be in Balmoral visiting the Queen.

Will someone put a GPS tracker on this woman already?

Whether Meghan is in Toronto, Italy, Scotland or on Mars our hysteria does raise the question: why do we care? And don’t say you don’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article.

Following the announcement of her engagement in November 2017, interest in Prince Harry’s beau has been on a steady incline. In December 2017, Meghan Markle was named the most Googled woman in the world.

The same levels of frenzy occurred for Kate Middleton following her wedding to Prince William in April 2011.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s every move was followed by the press while her influence on fashion was mind-blowing: Newsweek estimated in 2012 that the ‘Kate Effect’ was worth more than £1 billion annually to the UK fashion industry.

Since Harry and Meghan’s May nuptials – which was the most-talked about news event in history – the public’s appetite for Meghan Markle has grown in the same way.

The Duchess is barely out of the news while her effect on fashion is set to match her sister-in-laws, with economists estimating she had already pumped £200 million into British economy by the time of her wedding.

Click below to see every one of Meghan Markle’s looks…

So, where does our obsession with Meghan stem from?

Obviously, it has a lot to do with our fascination with royal life generally, and the idea of an American actress falling in love with a prince and entering one of the oldest institutions in Britain makes it all the more enticing.

It’s the stuff of fairytales and we can’t get enough.

A large part of our obsession with Meghan is watching her navigate her new life as a royal: we’re enraptured by watching events such as her first time on the Buckingham Palace balcony, her first solo outing with the Queen, her first royal tour and her style transformation into a Duchess.

We love to read about how she is assimilating into her royal life and cheer her on when we see her doing it well.

Clinical psychologist, Dr. Amanda Tadrous, agrees, saying: “Beyond her former career as an actress, she likely continues to be of interest to the public due to her reliability.

“The Duchess of Sussex is an unconventional royal bride. She is of mixed ethnicity and a divorcee. She has parents who divorced when she was a child and there are publicised rifts within her family. As a woman, she is certainly no wall flower.”

Will the public’s interest in the Duchess ever wane?

For Dr. Tadrous it’s a sure set no.

“I believe that the public’s interest in The Duchess of Sussex will continue to grow,” she says.

“[The public] will be intrigued to follow the progression of her relationship with Prince Harry. Whilst many see Meghan and Harry’s relationship as a fairy tale there are others who are more sceptical and will be watching to see if this will be a lasting relationship in which both get their happy ever after.”

You could just look at Kate as an example: seven years after her wedding, the Duchess is still one of the most followed royals, and her selling power hasn’t floundered.

Between April 2017 and May 2018, 380,000 UK internet users searched for Kate Middleton on Google, making her the second most Googled royal after Meghan Markle, currently.

Our prediction? We’ll be interested in Meghan Markle for many decades to come.

So, if anyone has any info on the whereabouts of Meghan Markle, you know where to find us…

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Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

How Meghan Markle is switching up the royal fashion game

Meghan Markle’s style file: Every outfit the Duchess of Sussex has worn in public

Every look the Duchess of Cambridge has worn in 2018