In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry admits that he was very firm on when he would feel comfortable taking the next step in a relationship – but says all of that was quickly ditched when he started dating Meghan Markle
Exactly 10 years ago, Prince Harry’s life looked a lot different to how it does now. Back then he was a full-time working royal living in his Kensington Palace cottage close to his now estranged brother Prince William.
In the summer of 2016, when Harry’s romance with Meghan Markle was starting to blossom, it all started to change for the Duke of Sussex as he admitting to throwing one major rule out the window. The couple tied the knot in 2018, just two years after they started dating, which Harry proclaimed was strictly against a guideline he set for himself as a young, eligible bachelor.
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When Harry and Meghan first started courting, he previously admitted that he knew she’d be the one he’d marry from early in their romance. So much so, that he also admits that he chose to turn against a dating rule which he followed strictly.
In his memoir Spare, Harry says he always told himself there were “firm rules” when it came to relationships, especially when you’re royal. He writes: “The main one was that you absolutely must date a woman for three years before taking the plunge.” However, Harry explains how Meghan was an “exception” to all of these rules, after realising following a trip to Africa.
He adds: “But Meg seemed the shining exception to this rule. All rules. I knew her straightaway, and she knew me. The true me. Might seem rash, I thought, might seem illogical, but it’s true: For the first time, in fact, I felt myself to be living in truth.”
Just two years later in 2018, Harry and Meghan ended up marrying in a fairytale Windsor wedding. Another two years on, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit the Royal Family and now live in California with their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Harry has been estranged from his family for several years, but despite their turbulent relationship, a friend close to Harry has revealed he would welcome an invitation to Sandringham to spend summer with the Royal Family at the King’s Norfolk estate.
The Duke of Sussex is due to be in the UK in July for an event connected to the Invictus Games in Birmingham, which is taking place next year. Harry’s friend told the Sunday Times that it would be a good opportunity for the Sussex family to reunite with the royals, saying: “If he was invited by the King, he would get a package of security that automatically kicks in. He’d like an invite to Sandringham. Would he go? It would depend who was there. If the King was to say, ‘Come up and spend some time with the family’, he’d love that.”
However, a source close to the King hit back at the claims saying “low trust and bitter experience” following what they perceive as leaks by Harry’s camp over family relations is hindering a full reconciliation between father and son.
An insider close to the King has now told the Daily Mail: “If Harry truly wishes to see his father, he would do well to encourage his supporters to allow such matters to be discussed privately, since low trust and bitter experience in this regard remains one of the principal barriers to progress.”
