Meghan Markle had ‘two week dating rule’ for Prince Harry as he called her ‘his soulmate’ on third date

The Duchess of Sussex is said to have made it clear to Prince Harry from the offset what she expected from their relationship, after they began dating in 2016

Meghan Markle’s romance with Prince Harry was well documented in their early days, after their first dates in 2016.

Yet it turns out a ‘dating rule’ could have been the secret to their success, and seen Meghan change from a Netflix actress into the Duchess of Sussex as she joined the royal family.

Harry and Meghan first began dating in 2016, with the pair revealing the first days of their relationship in their Netflix docuseries as Harry explained how he was late to their first date. Despite not being punctual, Harry and Meghan instantly hit it off and had two more dates before Meghan needed to return to Toronto for filming more series of Suits, which she starred in at the time.

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Meghan revealed it was she who requested the second date, as she shared in their docuseries: “I called him that evening and said ‘Look I’m leaving the day after tomorrow, do you want to grab dinner tomorrow night?’ I’m sure he thought it was so forward and American.”

The pair’s third date came weeks later with Meghan flying out to Botswana to join Harry for five days, camping in the wild and getting to know each other away from the world.

Harry explained: “We were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other.” Harry later said it was during this trip that he knew Meghan was his ‘soulmate.’

After this trip, Meghan is said to have implemented a ‘two week rule’, which is said to be the secret behind the couple’s courtship and later marriage in 2018. In the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, Harry revealed: “She had a two-week rule, which was very smart, that said we had to see each other in, or around two weeks.”

He then remembered asking his now wife: “How is that even possible with the stuff that I’m doing? I’m not going to be able to travel to see you that much.”

However Meghan shared that due to being relatively unknown in the UK, she could travel to Harry to make time for dates. She said: “It was much easier for me to go and see him in the UK. I could still just get on a commercial flight and go and see him under the radar.”

The couple later announced their engagement in 2017, getting married in May 2018. Now happily married to Harry, and with two children between them, Meghan is different to the girl who first met the royal in 2016.

Now, following her stepback from royal duties in 2020, she’s focused on life in the US and building her lifestyle business, As Ever. In her latest update on Instagram, Meghan revealed she is “so excited for all the good to come”.

Her brand, As Ever, shared a photo of Meghan, dressed in a casual white dress, as she ran through ocean water on the beach. The post, published on Saturday, was accompanied by the caption, “So excited for all the good to come! Running into the weekend like,” followed by an ocean wave emoji.

The latest update comes just days after Meghan confirmed that her products are being restocked this month – and said new items will be added to her website.

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