Meghan Markle’s First Date With Harry: He Was In A ‘Trance,’ Book Says

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry — Image Credit: MEGA

Free for Editorial Use Only. See terms of release, which must be included and passed-on to anyone to whom this image is suppliedMandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock (9687843c)This official wedding photograph released by the Duke and Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, shows - the Duke and Duchess pictured together on the East Terrace of Windsor Castle.The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Official Portraits, Windsor, Berkshire, UK - 19 May 2018News Editorial Use Only. No Commercial Use. No Merchandising, Advertising, Souvenirs, Memorabilia Or Colourably Similar. Not for Use After 31 December 2018 Without Prior Permission From Kensington Palace. No Cropping. Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Alexi Lubomirski. No charge should be made for the supply, release or publication of the photograph. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. — Image Credit: MEGA

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Prince Harry was smitten with Meghan Markle after their first meeting, according to a new tell-all book about the royal couple — Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family. Meghan and Harry do not have any relation to the book, which was released on August 11. It’s already known that the Prince and the actress were introduced on a blind at Soho House, London in July of 2016. What’s not known is the fact that Harry apparently left already knowing Meghan was the one.

“Almost immediately they were almost obsessed with each other,” a friend of Meghan and Harry’s told Finding Freedom authors Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie. “It was as if Harry was in a trance.” A source also informed the authors that the future Duke and Duchess of Sussex chatted over drinks for nearly three hours. When the blind date ended, both Meghan and Harry departed without a kiss, the book entails.

The very next night, they returned to Soho House’s Dean Street Townhouse for dinner, the book explains, noting that Meghan and Harry snuck into a staff entrance. When inside, the pair was apparently waited on by only one staff member to ensure privacy. “Harry knew they would be together at that point,” the friend said. “She was ticking every box.”

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle in The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in London, UK, on November 27, 2017 following their engagement. (Photo credit: MEGA)

The feeling was presumably mutual, as Meghan gushed over her date to one of her girlfriends, Finding Freedom reveals. “Do I sound crazy when I say this could have legs?” Meghan asked her gal pal, via phone, according to the book. The authors also noted that Meghan found Harry’s texts — which were often emojis, specifically the ghost emoji — to be funny and adorable, just like him.

“He definitely didn’t hide the fact that he was keen,” said a friend of Meghan’s. “He wanted her to know he was very interested.”

Authors Scobie and Durand conducted 100 interviews with “those who know Harry and Meghan best, close friends and even Buckingham Palace aides,” Scobie said during an appearance on Good Morning America. He also confirmed that despite speculation, Meghan and Harry did not have any “secret” involvement with the book.

Following their first date, Meghan and Harry eventually became engaged in November of 2017, as first announced by Kensington Palace. They tied the knot on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. That same year, Kensington Palace announced on October 15 that Meghan and Harry were expecting their first child together. They welcomed a son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6, 2019.

On January 8, 2020, Meghan and Harry announced that they were taking a step back as “senior” members of the royal family. The family later moved to California, where they currently reside.