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Sparks flew when Prince Harry first saw Meghan Markle on a friend’s Instagram story, as detailed in his memoir, Spare. The pair quickly moved from online chats to a first date at Soho House.
Despite London traffic making him late, Harry, who felt he saw his mother, Princess Diana, in Meghan, was immediately smitten. He lamented the lost time due to his tardiness, recalling the brief goodbye hug and thinking, “Compared to her, Cinderella was the queen of long goodbyes.”
Their whirlwind romance soon led to a pivotal trip to Botswana. Harry invited Meghan to join him in the country he held dear, and as he shared during their engagement interview, they camped under the stars for five days, a crucial period for them to truly connect.
This trip, documented in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, solidified Harry’s realization that Meghan was “the one.” He was astonished she agreed to the adventurous getaway after only a couple of dates.
Before their relationship became public, the couple enjoyed one last secret outing: a Halloween party in Toronto in 2016. As Meghan recounted to Ellen DeGeneres, she and Harry, along with Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack, donned costumes for a fun night out on the town.