How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fell in love
MEGHAN Markle kissed a lot of frogs before she met her prince inside a private dining room in one of London’s swankiest and most secretive members-only clubs.
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THEY first met inside a private dining room in one of London’s swankiest and most secretive members-only clubs.
No one noticed the good-looking pair who talked long into the night — or if they were seen, no one told the newspapers.
Twenty-two months later, all secrecy gone, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will walk down the aisle of St George’s Chapel at Windsor, in what will be world’s most-watched wedding, with every second broadcast, streamed, tweeted, and dissected in thousands of newspaper pages.
Their journey from blind date to May 19 wedding has been followed in minute detail by the world’s press, with the public captured by their love story — lonely prince meets gorgeous American gal.
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Just two months before meeting Ms Markle, Prince Harry told the media: “…if someone falls into my life, then that is absolutely fantastic.
“If or when I do find a girlfriend, I will do my utmost to ensure we get to the point where we are actually comfortable with each other before the massive invasion into her privacy.”
Ms Markle had kissed a lot of frogs before she met her prince. An earlier marriage to film producer Trevor Engleson had ended after two years, and she had split from celebrity chef boyfriend Cory Vitiello.
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In July 2016, Toronto-based Ms Markle was in London on a promotional tour for her TV series Suits.
A female friend — we’re not sure who, but chief suspect is the London-based interior designer Violet von Westenholz, daughter of a baron — is thought to have given Prince Harry Ms Markle’s number.
They arranged to meet in a private dining room at 5 Hertford Street, a Mayfair private members club beloved of the rich and royal.
“It was definitely a set-up. It was a blind date,” Ms Markle has since said.
“I didn’t know much about him and so the only thing I had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was, I had one question, I said ‘Was he nice?’”
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It seems he must have been, because the pair met again the very next day.
Just weeks later, they flew to Botswana together, and decided they had a future.
But for now, they were determined to keep their relationship a secret, flying across the world to meet each other in secret every two weeks.
Then on October 31 that year, theSunday Expressreported they were dating, and that “Harry was happier than he’s been for many years”.
On December 15, The Sun newspaper scored the first picture of the pair out walking together in London, attending a show in the West End. They were rugged up and wearing beanies, and smiling happily.
On February 2, the paparazzi caught them again, this time leaving another private member’s club, Soho House in London, hand-in-hand.
A month later, Ms Markle flew to Jamaica to join Prince Harry at the wedding of his friend Tom “Skippy” Inskip.
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Grainy photos of the royal pair show them smiling and once again holding hands.
In early May last year, Ms Markle was photographed in London hanging out with Harry’s friends as she watched him at a charity polo match. They stole a quick kiss after the game.
On May 20, photographers again captured a quick snap of them in a car together as they arrived at the wedding reception of Pippa Middleton, Prince William’s sister-in-law, in the village of Bucklebury.
The photographers snapped them again on August 4 as they touched down in Africa for a holiday for Ms Markle’s 36th birthday, Harry with his arm slung over his girlfriend’s shoulder.
‘WE ARE HAPPY AND IN LOVE’
On September 5, Ms Markle appeared on the cover of Vanity Fairmagazine and talked about the royal romance for the first time.
“We’re two people who are really happy and in love,’’ she told the magazine.
Twenty days later, the pair officially broke cover, appearing together at the Invictus Games in Toronto.
Five days later, they appeared at the Games again, where Harry was also photographed spending time with Ms Markle’s mother Doria Ragland.
Engagement rumours went into over-drive as the pair showed none of the usual restraint exhibited by the royal family, holding hands, linking arms, and Prince Harry kissing Ms Markle’s cheek.
On November 27, the worst-kept secret in London was officially confirmed — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were engaged.
On a cold, grey London day, they appeared together for photographs in the gardens of Kensington Palace, Ms Markle flashing the diamond ring Harry had given her, made from a diamond from Botswana and several diamonds from his late mother’s collection.
Ms Markle began the transition from actor to royal. She had already shut down her lifestyle blog, her social media accounts, quit her role with Suits and moved to London.
On December 21, the pair released their formal engagement photographs, with a stunning Ms Markle dressed in a $75,000 couture gown by Australia duo Ralph & Russo.
On Christmas Day, she appeared alongside all the other members of the royal family at the Queen’s annual Christmas service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Sandringham.
And on February 28, she made a joint appearance in London with her fiance, Prince William and Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge, as it was confirmed she would join the three other “young royals’’ as a patron of the Royal Foundation, the princes’ chief charity.
And on May 19, in a medieval chapel in the grounds of a 1000-year-old castle, Ms Markle and Prince Harry will formalise their love story, vowing “I will’’ in front of 600 invited guests — and up to a billion viewers on TV, social media and newspaper websites.
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