Meghan Markle's first boyfriend says 'she could run for US president'
Meghan Markle's first boyfriend claims he has heard the duchess 'could run for president' in the US.
Joshua Silverstein, who dated Meghan when the pair were teenagers, told presenter Lorraine Kelly on her show that he was supportive of the duchess in whatever she does to improve the world.
Silverstein said: "I hope that whatever Meg is doing in this moment she knows she can trust me. I definitely have nothing but respect for her and what it looks like she’s doing.
"I love that she and Harry are working on this documentary with Oprah about mental health. I think mental health is one of the biggest crises in our world right now and so that’s great they’ll be drawing all that attention to that.
"I even heard that she might run for office in the States here. Depending on who she surrounds herself with, that could be great.
"So I support her as long as she’s keeping her focus on change and awareness and trying to make the world a better place – that’s awesome."
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He also said: "She has a lot of access but also a lot of responsibility to the country now. She’s a figurehead.
"A lot of people are looking up to her for her guidance as a role model, young black girls, looking at Meghan now in ways I’m sure Meghan is taking very seriously, so the fact that she’s a mother and this pop culture figure, she’s got a lot on her hands."
Silverstein and Meghan met when they were 13, with Silverstein recalling that even then, he knew Meghan to be "a strong, confident young person" with "a very clear idea of where she wanted her path to take her".
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He revealed she had made the first move, explaining to Lorraine: "I think, as she told it, she approached me, so I think that in itself was very attractive, that a young person would have the confidence and gumption to walk up to me and tell me that she thought that I was attractive, or anything like that.
"It’s what kids did; she told her friends that she liked me, I told my friends that I liked her, our friends met and then they kind of arranged it and then we became girlfriend and boyfriend."
On when he heard she was to marry Harry, he said: "My only thought when I found out that she was going to be marrying Harry was that I hope she’s happy. That’s all that matters. Love is love, no matter what the relationship looks like or what the background is, so long as that love is authentic and honest and real then I’m happy for her."
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Silverstein, now an actor who lives in Los Angeles, said he kept up with what Meghan was doing after their break-up and said her mother, Doria Ragland, would keep him updated at church about her.
He said: "I would see her every now and again at the church we were going to. I mostly stayed in contact with her mum and her mum would let me know what she’s up to, ‘Meg’s doing this’ and ‘Meg’s in Canada’, ‘Meg’s modelling, Meg’s acting’. I always knew she was busy and keeping on her trajectory of success."
Ragland has previously attended Agape Spiritual Center in California, a church which also counts Oprah Winfrey among its followers.
Meghan is understood to have gone on camps organised by the centre when she was a teenager.
Silverstein has previously jumped to Meghan's defence, particularly when allegations of bullying emerged in March before the interview with Winfrey.
Meghan, who denied the claims, was accused of bullying two PAs out of the royal household, but Silverstein said he could not see it being true.
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