Over the past year, they have been dominating headlines with news of their romance. But according to a royal expert, it seems Prince Harry had a crush on girlfriend Meghan Markle two years before they actually met. In a new Channel 4 documentary, entitled When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Romace, royal writer Katie Nicholl has revealed that the 33-year-old prince has been a long-time fan of Meghan's TV drama, Suits, in which she plays paralegal Rachel Zane. Katie reveals: "He had a crush on [Meghan's character] Rachel Zane two years before he met Meghan and the reason I know is because I was having drinks with one of his friends."
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The author added: "She told me she'd been on a night out with Prince Harry. He was single at the time, so she said 'Harry, who's your ideal girl?' And he said 'Meghan Markle from Suits'." Speculation has been mounting that the British royal will announce his engagement to Meghan, 36, before the end of the year; by that time, the American actress may have waved goodbye to her role on Suits and be living in the UK on a more permanent basis. The lovebirds recently celebrated their first anniversary; it is believed that they first started dating sometime over the summer period last year after being introduced by Soho House's Markus Anderson.
Matchmaker Markus arranged the meeting at Dean Street's Soho House along with a group of friends and it's been claimed that Harry and Meghan immediately hit it off. "He asked Markus if he could set up, not a date, but an opportunity for them to meet and that happened in one of the private rooms of Soho House," revealed Katie. "There were about seven or eight of them altogether and it was a perfect opportunity for Harry and Meghan to come together in a really informal environment and actually talk. She was funny, feisty, confident and she wasn't swayed or knocked by the fact that he was Prince Harry. She thought he was terribly cute."
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Although Meghan and Harry have remained tight-lipped about their relationship, the actress recently spoke about their special bond in an interview with Vanity Fair. "We're two people who are really happy and in love. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people's perception. Nothing about me changed," said Meghan. "I'm still the same person that I am, and I've never defined myself by my relationship." She also accompanied the Prince at the recent Invictus Games.