Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have shared details of the early days of their relationship in their Netflix show, revealing their previous comments about meeting on a blind date aren't entirely correct.
Meghan, 41, admitted that she planned a summer being single before meeting Prince Harry in 2016, with the royal a shock 'plot twist'.
Following their 2018 engagement, Meghan and Harry sat down for a joint interview in which they claimed they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend.
Harry said: "We were introduced, actually, by a mutual friend - we'll protect her privacy - but it was literally through her and we met once and then twice, back to back, two dates in London last July, beginning of July, and then it was about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to join me in Botswana.
"And we camped out with each other under the stars and she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.
"So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure we had the chance to get to know each other."
When asked whether it was a set-up, both Harry and Meghan laughed.
"Yes, it was definitely a set-up - it was a blind date," said the former Suits actress at the time. "It was a blind date for sure," added Harry.
But in the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan, the couple reveal that while it was a set up, it wasn't quite a blind date...
Met on Instagram
It turns out the couple actually got chatting on Instagram after Harry spotted a picture of his future wife on a pal's feed - and the picture showed her with a Snapchat dog filter on her face.
After exchanging couple then moved on to FaceTime calls, and enjoyed a first date at 76 Dean Street in Soho, while trying to get their relationship under wraps.
In the first episode, Meghan's friend Lindsay Jill Roth said Meghan 'had a few different trips planned, and she was just going to be free' in the summer of 2016.
Speaking about the first time he saw her, Harry says: "Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, like a Snapchat."
'Oh gosh, isn't that whole thing, it's got like doggy ears,' Meghan interjects, laughing.
'That was the first thing, "I was like who is that?",' Harry said, with Meghan adding: 'That's ridiculous.'
This set things in motion with Harry messaging their common friend to get to Meghan - while the Duchess of Sussex admits she had planned a summer being single and 'had a career life and a path and then came H.'
'She sent me an email,' Meghan said as the text of the message was shown screen.
'Between you and I thought you might want to know this being newly single and all.
'I put our snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he's a friend) he called me last night dying to meet you. I just might have to set you up,' the message read.
Meghan admitted she asked to see his Instagram: "So that's the thing. People say "did you Google him?" "No."
"But that's your homework. You're like "Hmm let me see what they're about in their feed, not what someone else says about them but what they are putting out about themselves." That to me was the best barometer," she explained.
"Then we got each other's numbers. We were just constantly in touch, and I went "let's meet",' Harry added.
A friend of Meghan named Silver Tree added that Meghan texted her saying: "Silver you're not gonna believe this. And basically told me that she was going out on a date with him.
"We thought it was really funny. Like "In what world does this happen?",' she added.
Reflecting on why he fell for Meghan, Harry said: "I'm my mother's son - I make decisions from my heart not my head.'
"I just opened my heart to see what's going to happen.
He also discussed the 'unhealthy' way in which the love story started, adding: "Dating became a combination of car cashes, multi surveillance driving and disguises which isn't particularly a healthy way to start a relationship."
But Meghan added the couple were also "relaxed and easy" as they got to know each other.
"It was just relaxed and easy. We just got top know each other. Truly, it was like any other couple: "what do you like to eat, what do you like to cook, what movies do you like?"
Prince Harry said his past relationships had left him unsure of whether he wanted to pursue a new one.
"Every relationship that I had, weeks or months, were splattered over the newspapers, the person and their family harassed, their lives turned upside down, by the third or fourth girlfriend, I didn't know if I wanted this,' he admitted.
"So when I got to meet "M", I was terrified of her being driven away from me by the media, the media who had turned away so many people away from me.
"I knew that the only way it could work was to keep it secret for as long as possible."
First date
They also revealed details of their first date - where Harry was late, and their exchange of texts ahead of their first date.
Harry writes: "So come on what u doing tomorrow night? Hope you're Having fun over there!"
Meghan replies: "Heading back to soho. I have a dinner tomorrow at 8 but can do drinks tomorrow night. Would that work? Maybe 6?"
Harry writes back: "You're ON!"
'You were late,' Meghan laughed, saying Harry kept messaging her, writing: "I'm struck in traffic, I'm so sorry, I am in traffic, I am sorry".'
Harry admitted he was 'panicking, I was freaking out, I was so sweaty.'
Meghan said she was left waiting alone for him to show up, making her ponder: "is this what he does, this I'm not doing..."
She said she wondered if he was "one of the guys who has so much of an ego that any girl would wait and sit around for 30 minutes for you.
"I was not interested in that," she added.
But her doubts were proved wrong when Harry actually showed up.
"When I walked in, I was hot and sweaty and a red ball of mash,;" he admits.
Meghan laughed and recalled how Harry was: 'genuinely like so embarrassed" he was late.
Ahead of the series dropping, a friend close to the royal family stressed the situation concerned "real people and that there was a "great deal of sadness" collectively at the fraught state of affairs.
A dramatic trailer for the show dropped late last week, while the Prince and Princess of Wales were in Boston ahead of William's Earthshot Prize ceremony.
Following the trip, William rushed back to London to hold crisis talks with his dad King Charles ahead of the show's release.
"It' really important to remember that these are real people. This isn't a soap opera. They are human beings and a family and there's a great deal of sadness," the friend said.
King Charles and Prince William, along with Queen Camilla and Princess of Wales Kate, are not expected to personally watch the show, but royal staff will will watch the series, and considering any possible response to allegations.
The King and the royal family will be carrying on with royal duties as normal today, while millions are expected to tune in for the first three episodes of 'Harry & Meghan '.
In a trailer Prince Harry teased explosive allegations as he warned "We know the full truth" and spoken of a "hierarchy in the family", a "dirty game' and "leaking" and "planting of stories".
The Sussexes signed lucrative deals thought to be worth more than "ÃÃã100 million with Netflix and Spotify after exiting the monarchy amid the Megxit crisis.
The monarchy found itself into crisis after the Sussexes spoke to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, where they accused an unnamed member of the family of racism towards their son Archie before he was born, and the institution of failing to help the suicidal duchess.
The couple exited as senior working royals in 2020 in favour of more freedom and the ability to earn their own money in the US.
Harry said he felt let down by his dad, and "there's a lot of hurt that's happened in their relationship.
In the aftermath of the Oprah broadcast, the Queen issued a statement saying while some recollections may vary, the issues would be "taken very seriously" but dealt with privately as a family.
But on a podcast and a mental health Apple TV series, Harry went on to accuse his family of total neglect and appeared to criticise the parenting skills of Charles and the Queen and Philip, suggesting he had suffered "genetic pain.
The first dramatic trailer for the Netflix offering dropped unexpectedly last week, with another coming at the start of this one.
The trailer for the much-awaited show featured several photos of Meghan and Harry throughout the years, including wedding snaps and photos of them on holiday.
The second set of episodes will drop at the same time next week and are expected to feature even more drama - with the date set to clash with the Princess of Wales's carol concert in memory of the late Queen.
It dropped while The Prince and Princess of Wales were in Boston ahead of William's Earthshot Prize ceremony, and he rushed back to London to hold crisis talks with his dad King Charles ahead of the show's release.
A senior royal source said: "There is a completely united front from the King and his family concerning the numerous attempts to privately make peace with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which sadly have once again resulted in the other side wishing to air their repeated grievances to the world.
"If there is a need to respond to anything in the upcoming series then you can be assured that response will be swift and robust."
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