Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s love story had a humble beginning with an unassuming one-hour date in London.

Back in 2016, when their relationship first came to light, the media was quick to cover their budding romance, prompting Buckingham Palace to consider some form of intervention.

However, the way the Palace chose to introduce Harry and Meghan’s relationship to the public had an unexpected and negative impact on one person—Prince Charles. Two royal experts revealed that he was deeply affected by the surprising news.

The couple didn’t waste much time before officially dating, and in 2018, they tied the knot in a grand ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. At that time, many believed they represented the future of the British Royal Family, although subsequent events proved these predictions wrong.

Harry and Meghan’s relationship has been far from peaceful and private. Ever since the paparazzi discovered their relationship, the couple has been under constant public scrutiny. While the media played its role, Harry and Meghan have also been quite open about their journey, sharing their story through interviews, podcasts, a Netflix documentary series, and Harry’s upcoming memoir, «Spare.»

The early days of Harry and Meghan’s relationship were marked by a period of pure happiness. However, they have experienced their fair share of ups and downs since then. Initially, they kept their relationship extremely private, to the extent that even the now-King Charles was unaware of it.

In December of the previous year, Harry and Meghan released a Netflix documentary series in which Prince Harry shared the full story of how they met. He revealed that Meghan first caught his eye on Instagram when she appeared in a mutual friend’s video wearing a filter that gave her dog ears. This simple video piqued Harry’s interest.

Following this, a mutual friend introduced Meghan to Harry, and the rest, as they say, is history. Meghan recounted how they made plans to meet when she was in London for the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 2016. They scheduled a dinner at the Soho House in London, but Meghan had to wait for Harry for 30 minutes as he was running late.

Meghan expressed her initial confusion and concern about Harry’s lateness, wondering if it was a common habit for him. Harry, however, kept texting her, apologizing for the delay and causing Meghan to panic and fret.

Once Harry finally arrived at the restaurant, Meghan quickly realized that his lateness was not part of any calculated tactic. Instead, she found Harry to be sweet and genuinely embarrassed by his tardiness.

Their first date, which lasted just an hour, was described by Meghan as «refreshingly fun.» The following day, Meghan arrived five minutes late for their second date, to which Harry responded by telling her she could be as late as she wanted because he wasn’t going anywhere. It was in that moment that Harry realized Meghan was the one he had been searching for all along.