The glamorous TV star who almost stole Harry from Meghan

She’s a star with flowing, long locks and a body to die for — and if things had gone differently, she could have been the Duchess of Sussex.

Let’s talk about a TV star.

She’s in her 30s, loves her dogs, has millions of Instagram followers and is famously chic. With her flowing, long locks and big smile, she would be any guy’s dream date.

So, it made perfect sense when one Prince Harry, man about town and royal singleton, was totally charmed by her.

I’m not talking about Meghan Markle, who he would meet in 2016 after being set up on a blind date by a mutual friend.

Rather, I’m referring to Caroline Flack.

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Caroline Flack, pictured with Tom Hardy, is the face of hit TV shows including X Factor and Love Island UK.

While she might not be a household name in Australia, Flack, now 39, is the biggest thing on the small screen since sliced bread in the UK.

For years, she has been the face of a number of huge hits including X Factor and Love Island and in 2014 won Dancing with The Stars.

If fate had worked differently, there is every chance that right now she would be the one whizzing up his morning green juice and reminding him he needs to take a break from playing Fortnite every now and then.

Let’s rewind.

The year was 2009 and Harry was learning to fly helicopters. He had been dating Zimbabwean Chelsy Davy but the couple had broken up. What’s a fun-loving Prince to do but hit the town?

Similarly, Flack had recently split from her boyfriend, so her chum Formula One TV reporter Caroline Pinkham stepped in and decided to arrange a night out to cheer her up.

It just so happened that Pinkham had herself previously dated Hazza and was still friends with him. I think we can all see where this is going.

Prince Harry and on-and-off again ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Flack writes of the evening in her autobiography, Storm In A C Cup: “I knew [Caroline Pinkham] was friends with Prince Harry, and I’d never met him, so I thought, ‘Oh that’s quite exciting’, and for a moment I perked up.”

“So I was just sitting there and he arrived with a few others in tow and we all spent the evening chatting and laughing.”

The duo, it would seem, got on like a house on fire.

However, it wasn’t long before the tenacious paparazzi caught wind of things.

Shots of the two out and about in London show Flack beaming and laughing with Harry who was doing his best to go incognito, hiding his trademark flaming locks under a beanie.

Sadly, the course of (not-quite) true love never does run smooth.

When news of their closeness broke, things were doomed.

“Once the story got out, that was it. We had to stop seeing each other,” she has said.

“I was no longer Caroline Flack, TV presenter, I was Caroline Flack, Prince Harry’s bit of rough.

“The thing about Prince Harry is that he has no choice. He’s not some egotistical rock star who wants loads of attention. That is his life. He didn’t ask for it, he just has to deal with it.”

Interestingly, the Prince wasn’t Flack’s only relationship with a controversial Harry. A couple of years later she hit the headlines when it was revealed she, at age 31, was dating Harry Styles who was then only 17 years old.

Flack made headlines when it was revealed she was dating 17-year-old Harry Styles when she was 31.

Prince Harry, meanwhile, would go on to get back together with Chelsy before they too split. He had a further seven years of navigating the dating scene before he would agree to go on a blind date, head to Soho House and fall head-over-heels in love with a certain Suits star.

Still, it is interesting to think about just how different things might have been if this Sliding Doors-esque situation had played out differently.

We would have a Duchess Caroline who may or may not be feuding with her royal sister-in-law and the first member of the Windsor family to have dated a member of One Direction. Now that really would have given Her Majesty something to think about.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met on a blind date.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer with 20 years’ experience who has written for some of Australia’s best print and digital media brands | Continue the conversation @DanielaElser