It seems like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s romance truly was written in the stars. In Harry’s record-breaking memoir, Spare, he reveals a touching detail about his and Markle’s first interactions. According to the duke, he first started talking to his future wife on Princess Diana’s birthday.
The Sweet Way The Sussexes Met
In the book, Harry went into full detail about those early days of his and Markle’s relationship. Apparently, Harry saw an Instagram photo of a mutual friend and Markle. Intrigued, Harry asked the friend for the then-actress’ contact information.
Harry later realized that this first domino in a long line of them actually fell on July 1, 2016—what would have been his mother’s 55th birthday. Harry doesn’t come outright and say that it was a sign—but, come on, it was totally a sign.
“Eventually, we exchanged phone numbers, and mitigated the conversation over to text, going late into the night,” Harry wrote of the momentous day in Spare. The duke recalls “texting like a teenager” in his and Markle’s first conversations.
“It occurred to me how uncanny, how surreal, how bizarre, that this marathon conversation should have begun on July 1, 2016. My mother’s fifty-fifth birthday.”
As we know, these phone conversations eventually culminated in a real-life date. “We met for a drink, and then I think very quickly into that we said, ‘Well what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.’ ” Meghan has recalled, via People.
Things Moved Quickly For The Pair
Harry and Markle managed to keep their relationship a secret during the first few months. During their first interview with BBC, Harry revealed that, after only two dates, he invited Markle on a remote getaway in Botswana.
“I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana … We camped out with each other under the stars, she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic,” the duke explained. That November, Harry confirmed publicly that they were dating, and the rest is history.
However, Harry has talked about keeping his mother with him in his and Markle’s relationship. He actually designed Markle’s engagement ring to include gems from his mother’s personal jewelry. Then, of course, they named their daughter, Lilibet Diana, after the late Princess of Wales.
Earlier this month, Harry told People that his mother is his “guardian angel.” In recent years, the duke notes, he’s only grown closer to Diana. “The healing process has allowed me to get to a place where I now feel the presence of my mum more than ever before. She’s with me all the time.”