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The Duke of Sussex laid bare the no-nonsense response his now wife gave him when they were deciding where to have their first date. The third part of Prince Harry‘s autobiography, released worldwide on January 10, is fully focused on his whirlwind romance with Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s struggles with paparazzi and the media, their clash with the Royal Family and their decision to leave Britain for a new life in California.
Among the details of the blossoming romance with Meghan shared by Harry, the Duke wrote how he was immediately struck by the then actress’s “angelic face” after she appeared in a clip with their mutual friend Violet Von Westenholz.
After Ms Von Westenholz connected them, Meghan reached out to the royal via Instagram on July 1 – Princess Diana‘s birthday – and the pair immediately hit it off.
Their conversations eventually moved from the image-sharing social media platform to texts, with Harry recalling how he continued writing to Meghan “like a teenager” into the night.
As Meghan was in the UK to cheer on his friend Serena Williams at Wimbledon and would remain only for a short period of time, they agreed on meeting face-to-face as soon as possible.
But when Prince Harry, worried about the media attention it would have attracted on both himself and Meghan being spotted in public with a possible new love interest, suggested they could stay at his home on the grounds of Kensington Palace, the now Duchess of Sussex questioned whether he was really expecting her to meet him for the first time at Nottingham Cottage.
Harry said he scrambled to explain he “didn’t mean it like that” and told her about his concerns surrounding stepping out in public.
Unconvinced, Meghan took charge of the situation and booked a table under her name at Soho House at 76 Dean Street, a private member’s club in London where she would normally spend her time while in the UK.
Netflix in December, the Duke was half-an-hour late for the date due to heavy traffic.
READ MORE: Meghan and Harry brace for Hollywood snub over Netflix faux pas
The tell-all memoir, which was ghostwritten by Pulitzer Prize winner J R Moehringer, promises to be packed full of explosive revelations and insight into the Royal Family – and there’s even an audiobook read by the Duke of Sussex himself.
You can buy your copy of Spare on Amazon.
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Arriving at Soho House “red-cheeked, puffing, sweaty”, the Duke made a positive impression on his date, as they chatted for as long as possible before she had to leave for a previously-arranged dinner, Spare read.
The now Duchess even video-called the Duke a few hours later, catching Harry as he was spending time with a friend watching Pixar’s Inside Out.
The pair had their second date at Soho House on July 4, the United States’ Independence Day.
The Duke wrote in his memoir how he decided to mark the key US date by bringing Meghan red, blue and white cupcakes.
During this date, the pair were caught by the waitress in the middle of a kiss, which Harry described as “not their first”.
While in Spare Harry only provided his point of view on his momentous first date with the Duchess, Meghan had the chance to speak about it in the Sussexes’ first-ever docu-series for the US streaming giant.
Sitting next to Harry on a couch, she conceded she “couldn’t understand why he would be late” for their meeting.
She continued: “He kept texting. He was like, ‘I’m in traffic. I’m so sorry’.”
While this delay was damping her enthusiasm to meet Harry, she revealed seeing him arriving “a hot, sweaty, red ball of mess” helped her see he hadn’t meant to make her wait.
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