Prince Harry Broke His Strict Dating Rule When He Met Meghan Markle
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have certainly left their mark on the royal family. The two have fought back against press interference within their lives (to the dismay of the other working royals), and despite that it’s caused quite a rift between Harry and the rest of his family, the two seem to have a stronger marriage than ever.
Some might say Harry and Meghan had a bit of a whirlwind romance — they dated, became engaged, got married, and became pregnant all between summer 2016 and summer 2018. And while some critics thought it wouldn’t last, these two are here to prove them wrong. But Harry did once reveal that he broke one of his only dating rules when he met Meghan — and that’s how he knew it was meant to last.
Prince Harry broke his biggest dating rule with Meghan Markle
When Harry and Meghan first met, they didn’t waste much time getting to know each other. The two were introduced through a mutual friend, and by roughly their third date, Harry was asking Meghan to take a trip to Africa with him — mind you, the two hadn’t spent more than a few hours together at this point, but the prince clearly knew there was something special there.
In his biography, “Spare,” Harry revealed that he’d always told himself he needed to remain with the same woman for at least three years before proposing. However, Meghan caused him to break that rule.
“The main one [rule] was that you absolutely must date a woman for three years before taking the plunge,” Harry wrote in his book. “Meg seemed the shining exception to this rule. All rules. I knew her straightaway, and she knew me. The true me.” Harry wound up proposing to Meghan after less than a year and a half of dating, which he admitted was “rash” — but it felt right. “Might seem rash, I thought, might seem illogical, but it’s true. For the first time, in fact, I felt myself to be living in truth.” Harry and Meghan wed in a widely televised ceremony at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
Prince Harry’s quick romance with Meghan Markle reportedly caused tension with Prince William
Unlike William, who took about a decade — and multiple breakups — to finally propose to Kate Middleton, Harry didn’t need time to think. Of course, to give William the benefit of the doubt, he was only 20 when he and Kate started dating, so it’s fair to say he needed to mature a bit. Harry and Meghan were both in their 30s and had dated or been married before, so they knew exactly what to look for in a partner.
Rumor has it that Harry’s quick romance with Meghan is what started the tension between him and William. William thought Harry was moving too quickly, and he supposedly didn’t have the best views of Meghan. Of course, that, combined with the press treatment, eventually led Harry and Meghan to leave the royal family. The two have since settled down in California, where they welcomed their second child in 2021 and recently celebrated five years of marriage.
