Meghan Markle's extraordinary similarities to Prince Harry's ex Ellie Goulding have been revealed.
Harry was thought to be dating popstar Ellie back in 2016 - just six weeks before he met Suits actress Meghan on a blind date. Harry and Meghan were smitten after just one date but managed to keep their courtship under wraps for several months after being introduced by a mutual friend.
Their second date took place seven years ago, on July 4, when they met up again in London and Harry described it as a "bittersweet" celebration. Reading aloud the stirring speech she read at their wedding two years later, Meghan said that while July 4 is an important day for Americans, it was also a poignant date in their romance.
Meghan said in her speech: "They have their second date and he brings her cupcakes because it's 4 July. 'A bittersweet celebration,' he says. Ironic really. Her country's independence from his country. Yet in this moment, they know they don't want to be independent from each other."
After their second date, they spent a romantic holiday in Botswana before committing to a long-distance romance between London and Toronto, where Meghan was filming Suits.
Later that year, Ellie met art dealer Caspar Jopling at a dinner thrown for her by a friend following the singer's Jingle Bell Ball performance.
They married in August 2019 but now there are reports she and her husband are separated. Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary.
Now comparisons are being drawn between the two women who both caught Harry's attention seven years ago, by the Daily Mail.
Some are more superficial - they both wore similar messy buns for their weddings - but others are spookily similar.
Both women married in a castle with Harry and Meghan's wedding setting the tone in May 2018 as they wed at St George's Chapel and held the reception at Windsor Castle.
A little over a year later in August 2019 Ellie held a wedding of royal proportions at York Minster with a reception at Castle Howard.
The women also have friends in common and are both close to Harry's cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Meghan got to know the princesses in New York through her friend Misha Nonoo - long before she met Harry.
Ellie is also close to the Yorks and they met in London and they came to her wedding. Ellie also performed a set at Eugenie's wedding in October 2018.
Both women are also huge fans of yoga - Meghan's mother Doria Ragland is a teacher in LA and she keeps up a regular practise. And Ellie has previously said she attends several Bikram yoga classes a week.
The pair have more in common as they have both been involved with the United Nations. Ellie is a UN Goodwill ambassador and has been involved with homelessness charities while Meghan became a UN advocate for women’s political participation in 2015.
While their marriages appear to have taken different turns, it seems the pair have a lot more in common that just an ex.
