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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first date wasn’t exactly what either of them expected. In the December 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Duke of Sussex revealed he first saw Markle on Instagram. 

He said, “I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, it was like a Snapchat, and it’s with doggy ears and that was the first thing, it was like who is that?” Harry added, “We got each other’s numbers, and we were just constantly in touch, and I went, ‘Let’s meet.’”

The couple said that they met at Soho House on Dean Street in London in July 2016. Harry said traffic left him “panicking” and “sweating” before he arrived. Markle admitted she initially thought, “Oh, is this what he does? Got it. This I’m not doing.” 

But when Harry finally showed up, he apologized profusely. “He was so sweet,” Markle recalled. “You were genuinely so embarrassed and late.” Still, she wasn’t put off. “He was just so fun,” the Duchess shared. “Just so refreshingly fun. And that was the thing, we were like childlike together.”

The first date went well enough for a second. So, they met again the next day on July 4 at the same venue. Harry even brought the Suits actress cupcakes for the Fourth of July. In the 2017 BBC interview, Harry revealed that “I think about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana.” 

He said Markle stayed for five days, and they camped together under the stars. From there, the relationship moved quickly. The next year, Harry and Markle got engaged in November at Kensington Palace in London. They married in May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in England. 

In 2020, they announced they would step back as senior members of the royal family. Their honorary military roles and royal patronages were returned to Queen Elizabeth II in 2021. They then moved to the U.S. and settled in Montecito, California. 

They have two children. Their son Archie was born at The Portland Hospital in Westminster, London, in 2019. Meanwhile, their daughter Lilibet was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California in 2021. Now the family is back in Britain for an “extended stay.” 

They are now settling into British life again. The kids have started the new school year in the U.K. A source familiar with the family told The Sun, “They are still unpacking at home and getting over the jet lag. They’re buying school uniform and trying to buy pencil cases without being spotted. They wanted to come back, they’re excited about being back and everything that’s to come.”

Another source close to them told People, “Settling the children has been, and remains, their focus. Everything else will fall into place when the time is right.” The insider added that it has been “really busy getting the kids settled.” Separately, Markle’s recent sightings at Soho Farmhouse have fueled speculation that the Sussexes could settle in the area. 

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