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The tabloids have been interested in Prince Harry’s love life ever since he was a young adult. Throughout the years, there have been numerous stories about his various girlfriends and dates. However, Harry did not settle down with anyone until Meghan, Duchess of Sussex came along.

Harry and Meghan got married in 2018 and now have one child together. It’s clear Meghan is a special person in Harry’s life, and she reportedly made an impression on him on their first date. According to a new book called Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Family, Meghan showed herself to be different from many people Harry had met in a unique way.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

How did Meghan Markle and Prince Harry meet?

Meghan and Harry met in the summer of 2016 through a mutual friend. At the time, Meghan was an actor on the show Suits. When she visited London, she and Harry were set up on a blind date.

Before their date, Meghan and Harry did not know much about each other. In their engagement interview in 2017, Meghan revealed she did not follow the royal family and Harry shared that he had never watched Suits.

How did Meghan prove herself to be different from other people Harry had met?

According to Finding Freedom, Meghan and Harry went to dinner for their first date. It was there that Harry learned Meghan was not easily impressed by his princely status.

“On that first date at Soho House’s Dean Street Townhouse, Harry quickly realised that impressing Meghan was going to be tougher than just giving her one of his big smiles,” the book said, according to an excerpt published by The Times.

Meghan and Harry were allegedly “bashful at first” when they started talking, but soon enough, their conversations flowed easily.

“On two individual velvet club chairs, the pair were ‘in their own little world,’” the book claimed. “Over drinks (beer for him, a martini for her), they asked each other questions about their work. Nibbles may have been out on the low table in front of their oversize chairs, but neither touched the food.”

Meghan and Harry moved fast with their relationship

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It seemed both Meghan and Harry quickly realized they had something special going on. They did not share a kiss at the end of the date. However, they saw each other again the very next evening and had dinner at the same restaurant.

For their third date several weeks later, Harry decided to fly Meghan to Botswana. The couple spent five days together under the stars in the Okavango Delta.

Within three months, they had said “I love you” to each other, according to the book. Then, after a year and a half of dating, Meghan and Harry announced their engagement. They got married in May 2018.

Harry’s relationship with Meghan contrasted that of his brother, Prince William, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. William and Kate had a courtship that lasted almost 10 years; they met in the early 2000s and tied the knot in 2011.