Prince Harry has revealed that his first meeting with Meghan Markle was torn down, something he now regrets. In his autobiography Spare, the Duke of Sussex describes how their ill-fated romance began.
Meghan first caught his eye with a mutual friend Instagram story and after approaching the friend, they started an online conversation that lasted hours and led to a date the next evening. Markle was in London at the time enjoying the Wimbledon Championships and agreed to meet the prince at Soho House.
Despite being delayed by city traffic, Harry fondly recalled their chemistry: “We both had a first date where there was nothing to talk about, and now we both felt that special sensation when there's too much to talk about , when there's nothing to talk about.” There isn't enough time to say everything that needs to be said.”
Unfortunately, the charismatic meeting came to a quick end due to pre-existing dinner plans.
Recalling the volatile episode, Harry wrote: 'If I hadn't been late we would have had more time. I cursed myself and stood up. A short farewell hug,” before adding wistfully, “Poof, she was Compared to her, Cinderella was the queen of the long farewell.”
After their original dates, Prince Harry invited Meghan to accompany him to Botswana, a location dear to him. During their engagement conversation, he said, “We camped together under the stars. She came with me for five days, which was absolutely fantastic. So then we were really alone, which was crucial for me to make sure we had a chance to get to know each other.”
Prince Harry later confessed that it was during this trip that he realized Meghan was his “soulmate.” The couple went into more detail about the trip in their docuseries, revealing that their Botswana adventure took place after just two meetings.
“I was surprised she said 'Yes,'” Harry recalls. “This woman, who I actually met twice, is coming to Botswana, and we're going to live in a tent for five days!”.
This was the last public outing for Prince Harry and Meghan before their relationship was revealed was a Halloween party in 2016.
“He came to visit me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin, Eugenie, and her husband Jack, they came too, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to have a fun night on the town before it broke out in Toronto.” the world that we were a couple,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in a 2021 interview.
Meghan added: “It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we all had very bizarre costumes on, and we were able to have one last, fun night out.”
Meghan and Harry revealed exclusive photos from a special evening in their Netflix documentary, which tells how they were tipped off about their upcoming media attention. They chose to “pull the pin out of the fun grenade” and fully embrace what would be one of their last private dates.