When Prince Harry first saw Meghan Markle, she had dog ears — but sparks
still flew! From an Instagram DM to sleeping amidst roaring African lions,
here are all the juicy details about the early dates in Harry and Meghan's whirlwind romance.
If you've ever thought that your favorite celebrities are lurking on social media
through private accounts, the answer is yes — they definitely are. Prince Harry was no exception,
and his private Instagram account allowed him to engage with the social media world without
the pressures of maintaining an official page. In many ways, it allowed him to simply connect with
others. It was through the said profile that Harry first got a glimpse of Meghan Markle,
who just so happened to pop up on his feed on the account of a mutual friend.
Remember the Snapchat filters we all used to be obsessed with and would post to our
main social media pages? Well, Meghan and her friend, Violet Von Westenholz, used the dog
ears and nose filter to film a funny video and it ended up on Harry's feed. He was smitten.
"I was like, 'Who is that?'"
Harry was completely taken aback by how beautiful she was, even with doggy ears!
Violet Von Westenholz should really get credit for being the ultimate wing woman because
she went on to pass Prince Harry's Instagram account details to Meghan Markle. Of course,
the account was private and used a pseudonym, so Harry had to allow the Suits star to follow
him — not a problem, given that he already had heart eyes for her. Like any good single woman,
Meghan then scrolled through Harry's account to get a sense of what kind of photos he posted,
and what his social media use was like. If she was expecting clues into his royal life,
however, Meghan may have been disappointed.
As it turned out, Harry's Instagram was mostly full of pictures he had
taken during different trips to Africa, an incredibly important continent for him
where he had spent years living and working in different countries. Focusing his work on
conservation efforts in Botswana, Harry's feed pictured endangered species, incredible views,
and the natural splendors that only Africa can boast. Meghan, meanwhile, took the opportunity
to comment and slid into the prince's DMs, as she detailed in their documentary. She wrote to him:
"Hello! Beautiful photos."
Of course, the rest is history.
Like any meeting through social media, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle started chatting back
and forth in their DMs. From there, the two exchanged phone numbers and started
chatting via text. As detailed by Harry in his memoir, Spare, he and Meghan had
what can only be described as an endurance race of a conversation. Going on for hours,
the two got to know one another on a deeper level, and it was only after the
fact that Harry realized just how cosmic their interaction was — and specifically when it took
place. Noting just how fated his and Meghan's interaction really was, Harry wrote in Spare,
"It occurred to me how uncanny, how surreal, how bizarre, that
this marathon conversation should have begun on July 1, 2016. My mother's 55th birthday."
Whether you love them or hate them, that fact in and of itself is a little surprising. As it turns
out, that's not the only Diana-connected date that has popped up for the couple. When they announced
Meghan's pregnancy with Lilibet, they chose to do so on Valentine's Day 2021. Amazingly,
Diana had chosen the same day in 1984 to announce her pregnancy with Harry,
and the prince had no idea. Harry said in the couple's Netflix documentary:
"I was shocked. We had no idea. It was just a coincidence, or maybe not a coincidence."
So, through Instagram DMs and texting, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got to
know each other — at least enough to meet up. Like any good love story, they decided to go
on their first date. Of course, being a prince and one of the most watched royals in the world,
options were limited for Harry. Harry said in their Netflix documentary,
"She didn't realize that being royal meant being radioactive,
that I was unable to just meet at a coffee shop or pub."
Still, Meghan wasn't deterred. She suggested the Soho House at 76 Dean Street,
as they had a private social club that would allow their first date
to happen without the prying eyes of paparazzi. Meghan didn't travel
all the way to London to meet Harry — she was already in town to attend Wimbledon,
and she carved out some space in her schedule to meet the prince. In a hilarious turn of events,
however, the Suits star almost didn't give him a chance. Meghan said of their first date:
"You were late! And I couldn't understand why he would be late. [I did not want to date] one
of those guys who have so much of an ego that any girl would sit waiting for a half hour for you."
Harry, meanwhile, was supposedly stuck in traffic and was panicking on his way to meet Meghan.
One of the biggest tricks of the dating trade is to leave them wanting more,
and Meghan Markle's first date with Prince Harry is a perfect case study.
Meghan's standards were high that night, and their date was cut short not only by
Harry being late but by her leaving after an hour. Telling him that she had other plans,
Meghan got up and left, which apparently left Harry wanting to get to know her even more.
Speaking of her decision to leave after an hour, Meghan said in the
couple's Netflix documentary that it was only a couple of hours until she picked
up the phone to contact Harry once again. This time, she had an important question:
"I called him that evening and I was like, 'Look,
I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. Do you wanna grab dinner tomorrow night?'"
"And I'm sure he thought it was so forward and American.
I'm sure he told me it was so foreign and American."
Meghan then added:
"We went and had dinner the next night at the same place."
By some twist of fate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had found themselves back at the Soho
House for dinner the following night. The universe might have a sense of humor,
because this time it was Meghan who was late for their date. However,
Meghan clarified during their Netflix documentary that she was only late by a couple of minutes.
"But you were quite flustered."
Meghan explained:
"Well, I had come back from Wimbledon and, you know, when you get all dolled up I
wanted to go home and take a shower and then run over looking more like myself."
Harry then recounted,
"I was like, 'You can be as late as you want. I ain't moving. I wanna see you again.'"
After Meghan arrived, the night went off without a hitch. The two were clearly smitten with one
another, and to memorialize the night, they posed for a selfie — Harry's arm around Meghan smiling
at the camera, while she laughed into the crease of his shoulder. Meghan said in their documentary:
"There was one photo. We just wanted to capture the feeling of just sitting
in that little restaurant and going, 'Oh my gosh. I think we're going to give it a go.'"
So when it comes to the first couple of dates, it typically goes coffee, then drinks,
then dinner. For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, they did drinks, dinner, then Botswana. Yep,
their third date consisted of a trip to the country that held an incredibly special place
for Harry and it was there that they took their relationship to the next level. While speaking
about the wild invitation Harry extended to her for their third date, Meghan had this to say:
"I'm getting on the plane, and I'm going to the middle of the bush. What? What am I doing?" Like,
what if we don't like each other and then we're stuck in the middle of the
bush in a tent? So I get there, this is the first time I've seen him in a month."
She went on to add:
"We were very awkward at first. Like,
'Oh God. Do we kiss? Do we ...?' And I just remember he handed me a chicken sandwich."
As for the trip itself, it was full of memory-making moments and one particular
scare, which Harry detailed in his memoir. Hearing a lion roar just outside their tent,
Meghan shot up with a sense of fear, to which Harry responded,
"I promise I'll keep you safe."
They say that navigating love can be like trekking through the jungle,
and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship has been akin to being on the world's longest and
most treacherous safari. Shortly thereafter, their romance hit the headlines, and all of a sudden,
the world's paparazzi and media were paying attention to the couple and every little detail.
Recounting what it was like to suddenly be projected into this newfound sense
of international fame, Meghan recalled that her and Harry's trip to Botswana
was actually the best kind of training they could've had for navigating the
treacherous waters together. Meghan said during the couple's Netflix documentary:
"The next morning [when news of our relationship broke], it was so overwhelming. I said, 'Okay,
well then, I'll just treat it like we're in the bush. Because like,
it's all foreign to me, but I trust that you'll keep me safe, and you'll get me through it."
Of course, the couple has since survived a litany of challenges, and are now in charge of their own
narrative. To say that those first dates were a whirlwind is certainly an understatement.