It was here, in this natural idyll, where the couple cemented their relationship, both of them realizing that they had found something special. As Harry later described: “It was absolutely amazing to get to know her as quickly as I did.”
In spite of the difficulties of distance and busy schedules, by the end of those magical six days they knew that their blossoming love affair was too precious to waste. As Meghan later told the BBC: “I think that very early on when we realized we were going to commit to each other, we knew we had to invest the time and energy and whatever it took to make that happen.”
Luckily, they had a template in Meghan’s friend, the recently married Lindsay Roth, who had managed to juggle executive producing The Real Girl’s Kitchen for the Cooking Channel in New York while dating London-based Gavin Jordan, an actuary for Ernst & Young. Their long-distance relationship had thrived and even ended in marriage—as had many others in Harry’s circle.
However, with due respect to Harry’s male friends, none of them would qualify for the position of the world’s most eligible bachelor. Harry had taken that gig—together with all that entails in terms of media, and public, fascination with his life. And as tricky as a long-distance relationship was, they had other considerations to bear in mind. Of paramount importance was secrecy. Meghan and Harry needed their romance to be private, at least long enough for the time to honestly decide if their relationship was going to succeed in the long run—or whether it was a feverish summer fling that would not endure the winter chills and inevitable absences.
They faced obstacles that just don’t occur in most relationships; Meghan had to ask herself if she was in love with the man or the position, and if she loved the man, could she cope with the position? She might be a popular actor and used to being recognized in public, but that was nothing compared to the scrutiny she would be under should she choose to go the distance with Harry. Midrange celebrity boyfriends like chef Cory Vitiello were one thing, but royalty was quite another. Could she take it? And for that matter, could her family and friends?
For his part, Harry had fallen for a (slightly) older, biracial divorcée from California. He didn’t need any reminding of the chaos and bitterness caused by the last American to marry a member of the royal family. When King Edward VIII fell for Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced woman from Baltimore, he abdicated the throne rather than give her up.
Long after Edward VIII had gone into self-imposed exile, divorce remained the great no-no inside the royal family. In the 1950s Harry’s great aunt, Princess Margaret, the queen’s sister, had agreed, after much pressure from the church and politicians, to walk away from her relationship with another divorcé, the late king’s equerry, Group Captain Peter Townsend. Her life was never really the same again.
Of course, his father, Prince Charles, had married his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, at Windsor in 2005 after leaving a decent interval following the death of Diana and that of his disapproving grandmother, the queen mother, who died in 2002. That union signaled a permanent retreat from the moral position the royal family had clung to during the bitter run-up to the abdication.
There was much history for Meghan to learn and absorb—much more than dragons, unicorns, and lions! Though he was instinctively protective toward her, Harry wanted Meghan to clearly understand what she was getting into and make her own choices, hopefully in his favor. He was much more the anxious supplicant, worried that the price of fame could be his future happiness. Like clambering into the unheated plunge pool at the Meno a Kweno camp, it was best if her introduction into his world was “pole, pole” (slowly, slowly).
The trick was in planning and timing. Many long-distance couples apply the twenty-one-day survival rule—to make sure that they see one another at least every three weeks. Harry and Meghan managed every fourteen days. Jet lag—not the paparazzi—became their main enemy. Meghan would often arrive in Toronto and go straight to the set of Suits and start filming. As she later recalled: “I think we were able to really have so much time just to connect and we never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other, even though we were obviously doing a long-distance relationship… we made it work.”
When they compared schedules before they parted, it was clear that if anything Meghan was the busier of the pair that fall, what with her TV filming commitments, promoting her new fashion collection on behalf of Reitmans, her blog, and humanitarian work. Even before Harry came into her life she was often up until the wee hours scouring the internet for inspiration for The Tig. Now she was going to be stretched even further.
Upon his return to London, Harry was soon back in the royal routine. After celebrating his thirty-second birthday on September 15 on the queen’s estate at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands, he undertook engagements in Aberdeen on behalf of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, the charity set up in his mother’s name that recognizes young people who have made a difference to their communities.
Meanwhile, on the last weekend in September, Meghan traveled to Ottawa, the Canadian capital, to attend her second One Young World Summit. The nonprofit had Meghan’s resounding endorsement: “They are delegates who are speaking out against human rights violations, environmental crises, gender equality issues, discrimination and injustice. They are the change.” Meghan, who had already spoken at the Dublin conference in 2014, joined other inspirational counselors, notably Mary Robinson, the former Irish president; Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau; as well as actor Emma Watson; and fellow Kruger Cowne clients including former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, poet and activist Fatima Bhutto, and singer Cher. As a sign of her standing, she was asked by Vanity Fair photographer Jason Schmidt to pose alongside Mary Robinson, Fatima Bhutto, and Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul with the Ottawa Parliament building as a backdrop.
Inside the conference center, Meghan, speaking without notes, told a women’s equality forum about the time she had confronted the creator of Suits concerning the fact that the scriptwriters were sketching too many scenes that opened with her character, Rachel Zane, emerging naked from a shower dressed only in a towel. It was sexist, it was unnecessary, and it was stopped. Her complaint came years before the rebellion about the way women were treated by Hollywood, in the light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and the subsequent #MeToo campaign. For all her own professional difficulties, she admitted to feeling humbled, nervous, and rather emotional when she introduced activist Luwam Estifanos, who had bravely escaped a life of slavery in Eritrea and now works to end that government-sponsored practice in her home country.
Meghan’s exposure at the conference was a reminder to Harry, if any were needed, that he was dating a very special woman. A keeper, as they say. She arrived in London shortly afterward for a reunion with the prince. As the watchword was privacy, they stayed at his modest grace and favor home on the grounds of Kensington Palace. Best remembered now as the place where thousands of people laid flowers in the summer of 1997 in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the palace is probably the most exclusive village in Britain, home to an assortment of royals, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, courtiers, and retired staff. Like any village, it feeds on a diet of gossip and rumor, but for the most part what happens inside Kensington Palace stays inside Kensington Palace.
If Meghan was expecting to be sleeping in a palace, she was sadly disappointed. Harry’s home of Nottingham Cottage was smaller than her own place in Toronto—and with lower ceilings. It had been the home of Prince William and Kate while the capacious apartment 1a Clock Court, the former residence of the late Princess Margaret, was being renovated. Cozy and neat, the cottage, known as Notts Cott by residents, boasts two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms, and a small garden. In summer it has the feel of being in the heart of an English country village, which perhaps explains why the first thing Harry did when he moved in was to install a hammock in the garden to laze away sunny afternoons.
It had the virtue, though, of being p
rivate and secure, the exits and entrances watched 24 hours a day by armed police. It is here, as schedules permitted, where they began living together, quietly, secretly, unobtrusively. Meghan recalled, “I don’t think that I would call it a whirlwind in terms of our relationship. Obviously there have been layers attached to how public it has become after we had a good five, six months almost with just privacy, which was amazing.”
Fortunately for Meghan, the palace also has a high walking score—places available on foot—which meant the actor was able to go jogging—mobile meditation, as she calls it—around the park or stroll on Kensington High Street to go shopping. It will doubtless have given her a kick to know that when she went into Whole Foods, the American-owned supermarket, which shares a building with journalists from the Mail newspaper group, she was operating in “enemy territory.”
Not that Kensington Palace was a home away from home. It was a culture shock. Not just the security but the rather utilitarian way the royals lived. Take, for example, food. As a rule, the royal family eat to live rather than live to eat, watching their diets so that they remain the same shape and weight. “Bloody organic,” said Prince Philip to palace chef Darren O’Grady one day when confronted with a basket of his eldest son’s homegrown produce.
When Harry was growing up a treat was to be taken to McDonald’s for a hamburger by his mother. For the most part, he was brought up on institutional food at his boarding schools and then, during his Army career, fed with whatever was available, especially when he was based in Afghanistan. Even on formal occasions, when palace chefs pull out the culinary stops, he was raised in a family where traditionally everyone stopped eating once the Queen finished. When she put down her cutlery it was a signal for all the plates to be cleared away. Hardly the recipe for a calm digestion.
Though all members of the royal family have their dietary quirks, none seemingly enjoy the act of cooking—though Prince Philip does like to barbecue when in Balmoral. Meghan, though, comes from the other end of the foodie chain: she loves cooking, exploring new foods, and experimenting with fresh flavors. During the first few months of their romance, Meghan’s blog, The Tig, enthused over recipes for pumpkin fondue, spiced broccoli and hempseed stew, poached pear in orange, spelt Anzac biscuits, and red wine hot chocolate. As she likes to sample her recommendations, Harry will have been the royal guinea pig.
Meghan extolled the virtues of a “holistic plant-based food delivery service” complete with brand ambassadors who were “experts, influencers and leaders in the wellness world.” Maybe it was wise to have kept Prince Philip out of the loop on that one.
Just as Meghan encouraged a helping of culinary adventure, so she dramatically changed the contents of his fridge. Meghan never leaves home unless she has hummus, carrots, green juice, almonds, and chia seed pudding in the fridge. When California met Kensington, there was only going to be one victor in the dietary smackdown. As one observer noted: “Americans like to change their men in many small ways.”
They were, however, hardly prisoners of the palace. As Harry doubtless told himself, if his mother could keep her longtime romance with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan a secret, then he could do the same with Meghan. They enjoyed a quiet trip to see the musical The Lion King and visited Princess Eugenie, the Duchess of York’s daughter, and her soon-to-be fiancé Jack Brookbank at her apartment at St. James’s Palace.
“Eugenie and Meghan have become firm friends, bonding over a shared love of art, dogs, and late-night macaroni suppers,” one friend of the couple later revealed. “Eugenie loves Meghan to bits and believes she is perfect for Harry.” The prince also carefully introduced her to his closest friends, notably Hugh van Cutsem and Rose Astor, and his school friend Tom “Skippy” Inskip and his wife, flame-haired literary agent Lara Hughes-Young. One of the first to run the rule over his brother’s latest was Prince William, the couple frequently visiting the Duke and Duchess and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, at their Kensington Palace home.
They also visited the gastropub Sands End in South West London, which is owned by Harry’s “second dad” and mentor Mark Dyer. Dyer was utterly delighted that Harry had found a “good sort” after so many years of drifting and occasional debauchery. It helped that Mark is married to Texan heiress Amanda Kline, who was able to give Meghan recommendations for mundane but vital matters, such as hairdressers, nail bars, and beauty salons.
“Meghan loved her from the start,” observed a friend of the Dyers. “She is a compatriot and terribly kind and jolly—and Harry trusts the Dyers implicitly.”
One weekend they headed to the Cotswolds, staying at the Oxfordshire farmhouse run by Soho House. It is a seriously stylish hang out for metropolitan hipsters who want to road test their designer wellies. Every night a cocktail cart visits the various rooms and wooden cabins, dispensing martinis and, in Harry’s case, aged Scotch whiskey. While staying at Soho Farmhouse, the club’s founder, Nick Jones, introduced Meghan to musician Richard Jones, husband of singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whom Meghan had met at the opening of Soho House in Istanbul in 2015. A keen amateur pilot, he said to Meghan, “Let me show you how to fly a plane.” As he later recalled, “She jumped at it. I took her up with me and she loved it. She was great, a natural, and we flew over the Cotswolds.”
On October 11 she boarded a rather larger conveyance than Richard Jones’s single prop and flew from London to Atlanta, Georgia, where she was a guest speaker at a blogging conference aimed specifically at millennial women who want to network and learn how best to use digital space. In a thirty-five-minute discussion on stage with Create and Cultivate founder Jaclyn Johnson, she passed on her own pearls of internet wisdom and made it clear that she planned to expand The Tig. By now her baby had grown into a toddler that needed constant feeding. Her brand, which she described as “aspirational girl next door,” needed help, someone who could instinctively know how to channel Meghan and continue to feed The Tig. She clearly wanted to be able to balance her site with her private life, but she had not yet given serious attention or thought to how her royal romance could impact the life of her social media baby. During the taped conversation she also gave her adoring audience a window into the whirlwind that was her world, admitting that she had arrived from London the previous night and after the conference was flying to Toronto to film three episodes of Suits for the show’s sixth season. Her talk left the audience impressed by her candor and smarts. “Charming, intelligent and unafraid to let her guard down, Meghan is the definition of the modern woman,” noted Jaclyn Johnson.
Once Megan had finished filming it was Harry’s turn to join her in Toronto. Unlike Meghan, who’s normally the camera-ready girl sitting in business class in her jeans, chinos, and black tailored blazer, a cashmere scarf on her shoulders, quietly reading The Economist while listening to Petit Biscuit or Christine and the Queens on her designer headphones, Harry is the boy in a beanie, traveling head down, avoiding eye contact. Fortunately, unlike in London, Paris, and New York, there is no paparazzi culture in the Ontario capital, so life was more relaxed for the couple, and once again they were able to continue with their relationship outside of public or media scrutiny.
Apart from an SUV containing plainclothes police that was parked unobtrusively on her tree-lined street in the affluent neighborhood of Seaton Village, there was no obvious sign that a member of the royal family had come to visit.
With its wooden floors and light-painted walls, Meghan’s open-plan property has the feel of Southern California, a trick that is hard to pull off on a dull October afternoon in Toronto. Unlike Nottingham Cottage’s relatively utilitarian interior, the rented property is suitably luxurious, with a cinema room, a high-end eat-in kitchen, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Her rescue dogs, Bogart and Guy, had the run of the house and despite having a kennel outside the pair often slept on Meghan’s king-sized bed. When Harry came to stay, doubtless she dressed them in the Union Jack jumpers she bought to amuse her royal boyfriend.
Housed in an elegant Georgian building in the west of the city on Adelaide Street, the club provided the cozy corners and intimate bars where the couple could escape with Meghan’s closest friends. Here they could enjoy the Italian-style cuisine or venture onto the rooftop terrace for panoramic views of the downtown skyline.
For much of the time they just hung out, Meghan cooking dishes fit for a prince, mainly pasta and her signature roast chicken. At Halloween, the eve of Meghan’s collection for Reitmans hitting the stores, they met at Princess Eugenie and Jack Brookbank, who were in Canada on holiday, at Soho House for supper before Harry donned a mask and went trick-or-treating with his girlfriend.
It was a fun and carefree evening, but their days of secrecy and privacy were coming to an end.
Meghan and Harry were about to be unmasked.
11
A Very Public Romance
On a briskly chilly but blue-skied day at the end of October 2016, Camilla Tominey, the royal editor of the Sunday Express, was cheering on her young son in a Sunday league soccer match. Much to his mother’s delight, the six-year-old was on the score sheet.
Some hours earlier his mother had scored, too, breaking the biggest royal story of her career. Under the headline HARRY’S SECRET ROMANCE WITH A TV STAR, and billed as a “Royal World Exclusive,” she told her readers that Prince Harry was “secretly dating a stunning US actress, model and human rights campaigner.” Her story went on to detail the romance between the queen’s grandson and Suits actor Meghan Markle. It quoted a source as saying that Harry is the happiest he has been in years.
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