The Sweet Story of How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry *Actually* Met—and Who Introduced Them

From pretty much the moment news broke that Prince Harry was dating Meghan Markle in October 2016, there’s been speculation about (1) how they met and (2) who set them up. And a lot of details were a mystery…that is, until the first half of their docuseries came out and gave some new intel! The things we know for sure? They met in London through friends in July 2016 and were basically smitten, love-at-first-sight style. We also know that a mutual friend set them up. Itching for more details? Cool, we have them, so settle right in.

Harry First Saw Meghan on Instagram

Ah, modern love. In their docuseries Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry dishes on the first moment he (virtually) saw Meghan. He said, “Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had a video of the two of them, like a Snapchat,” Harry explained. “With dog ears. That was the first thing. I was like, who is that?” Also, yes, Prince Harry had a secret Insta that was f-u-l-l of nature vibes, much of which Meghan was into. Witness:

Meghan and Harry’s First Meeting Was Over Drinks

Yep! In their docuseries, the couple even released their text exchange before their first meetup: Harry: “So come on—what u doing tomorrow night? Hope you’re having fun over there.” Meghan: “Heading back to Soho. I have a dinner tomorrow at 8 but can do drinks tomorrow night, would that work? Maybe 6?”
Harry: “You’re ON!”

And get this: Harry was late to the first date! Naturally, Meghan was not feeling this. While reflecting on the moment on the show, Harry said, “I was panicking; I was freaking out; I was, like, sweating.” Ultimately, they ended up having a blast. “He was just so fun,” Meghan said. “Just so refreshingly fun, and that was the thing, we were, like, childlike together.”

Oh, and Harry, bless, previously gave some details about the exact moment he first laid eyes on Meghan during their post-engagement interview, saying, “I’d never watched Suits; I’d never heard of Meghan before. I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. There she was sitting there. I was like, Okay, well, I really have to up my game here. Sit down and make sure I have a good chat.”

So, Who Introduced Meghan and Harry?

Harry and Meghan honestly tell the story best themselves: “We were introduced actually by a mutual friend, we’ll protect her privacy,” Harry said during the post-engagement interview. “It was literally through her.” Meanwhile, Meghan added, “It was definitely a setup…it was a blind date.” She also noted she knew basically nothing about the British royals and only cared about whether or not Harry was a nice person.

After Harry saw Meghan on Insta, he reached out to the mutual friend, and apparently, the friend immediately hit Meghan up with THIS email: “Between you and I, thought you might want to know this being newly single and all. I put our Snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he’s a friend)…he called me last night dying to meet you. Hehehe, I might just have to set you up.”

There’s been a lot of speculation about who “the mutual friend” is, of course. At first, people assumed it was Misha Nonoo, a close friend of Meghan’s who was previously married to Alexander Gilkes, a close friend of Harry’s. Misha never confirmed or denied the rumors, and her rep told People in 2017, “Misha will not be discussing anything surrounding her relationship with Meghan.” She was also asked directly by the Evening Standard and said, “I really can’t answer that.” However! E! News revealed in 2018 that Harry’s childhood friend Violet von Westenholz is the person who introduced him to Meghan.

“Harry was having a really hard time finding anyone,” a source said. “It’s hard enough finding someone new to date. He can hardly go on Tinder or a dating app like normal people, but to meet someone that you actually connect with, that was proving to be almost impossible. It was something he had confided in his closest friends about; he was ready to meet someone but it was so hard to actually find the right person.”

Meanwhile, Violet knew Meghan through her work in PR with Ralph Lauren, and the rest is history! “Meghan had been a part of the London social scene for a while and had slotted into the high society set really easily,” the source said. “And so when Harry told Violet he was having trouble finding someone, Violet said she might just have the perfect girl for him.” So there you have it: the story of when Harry met Sally Meghan.