These days, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are one of the most famous couples in the world. And regardless of how you feel about “Megxit” or any other royal drama, it’s clear that these two love each other very much. So much, in fact, that it’s difficult to remember a time when these two weren’t a couple.
However, the early days of Harry and Meghan’s relationship are downright fascinating. How did they first meet? Why did the two of them have very different first impressions of each other, and why did the announcement of their relationship break King Charles’ heart? Keep reading to discover the answer!
How Harry first discovered his future wife
It was a really big deal when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle because she was such an unconventional choice for a royal like himself. Instead of coming from a noble house or even coming from England at all, Markle was an American actor best known for the TV show Suits.
How, then, did Harry discover Meghan in the first place? Believe it or not, Decider reports that the prince never watched Suits before he met his future wife. But in the recently released Harry & Meghan docuseries on Netflix, the couple spilled the beans on how everything went down.
In short, he saw one of Meghan’s videos on Instagram because they had a mutual friend. Harry was intrigued by Meghan using a filter that gave her dog ears, and soon after that, he had yet another mutual friend introduce them. Of course, once they met in person, things didn’t exactly go as the prince had planned.
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Harry’s less-than-stellar first impression
In 2016, it just so happened that Meghan Markle was already planning to attend the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London. This gave her a chance to meet Harry, and the two made plans to meet up at Soho House. But Harry made a less-than-stellar first impression due to something even a prince cannot control: traffic!
As reported by Insider, an increasingly panicked Harry kept texting Meghan. While she was busy worrying “why he would be late,” Meghan said that the prince kept texting her “I’m in traffic. I’m so sorry.” In the docuseries, Harry was quite blunt about how he was feeling at that time: “I was panicking, I was freaking out,” he said. “I was like, sweating.”
It got bad enough that Meghan started worrying that Harry was on some kind of ego trip as if he was “one of those guys who have so much of an ego that any girl would sit waiting for a half hour.” Fortunately, once Harry finally showed up, the two hit it off. And somewhere in the back of Harry’s head, wedding bells began to ring.
Early plans for marriage
Considering they’re married now, it’s clear that Prince Harry managed to impress Meghan Markle despite being so late to their first date. But one of the most surprising things about their relationship is how serious Harry became in such short order. In fact, when they met the next day for a second date (one that Meghan was late for, though only by five minutes), Harry had something of a revelation.
As reported by Fantastic Life News, as Harry waited for Meghan to arrive, he was seized by a surprising thought: “I was like, ‘You can be as late as you want cause I ain’t moving,’ he recalled in the docuseries. And once he got back from that date, he dropped the news on his friends.
At this point in the docuseries, another couple appears that were friends with Harry when he first met Meghan. And this new couple explained what Harry breathlessly told them after that second date with Meghan: “Guys, I met a girl. We just met, but I think she’s the one.”
Things went pretty fast from there, with the two making their long-distance relationship work. Eventually, the time came to tell the world they were dating…an announcement that ended up breaking King Charles’ heart.
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Nobody was more surprised than King Charles
When you’re a member of the Royal Family, you can’t just date anyone. At least, not without telling the rest of your famous family. That may sound cruel, but it’s meant to keep members of “The Firm” from getting serious with someone who is just using them for their wealth and influence. And, of course, to keep the newcomer from bringing embarrassment to Buckingham Palace.
Therefore, once Harry decided to go public with his relationship, many worked behind the scenes to help prepare for the announcement. As it turned out, though, there was one person who got barely any notice: then-Prince Charles, whom Express reports found out about the relationship only 20 minutes before the couple went public.
Charles was “crushed” by the announcement, with the primary reason being that he worried it would overshadow his own upcoming tour of the Middle East. Deep down, though, we think Charles likely felt betrayed Harry couldn’t trust him with the news, which should have been the first clue that Meghan was going to inevitably drive a wedge between Harry and his family.