Prince Harry admits he 'cursed' the end of first date with Meghan Markle for one reason

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle started secretly dating in July 2016. (Image: PA)

Prince Harry has revealed that his first meeting with Meghan Markle was cut short, something he now regrets. In his autobiography Spare, the Duke of Sussex describes how their fateful romance began.

Meghan first caught his eye on a mutual friend's Instagram story and after approaching the friend, they started an online conversation which lasted hours and led to a date the following night. At the time, Markle was in London enjoying the Wimbledon Championships and agreed to rendezvous with the Prince at Soho House.

Despite being delayed by city traffic, Harry recalled their chemistry enthusiastically: "We'd each had first dates on which there was nothing to talk about, and now we both felt that special thrill when there's too much to talk about, when there isn't enough time to say all that needs to be said."

Unfortunately, the charismatic encounter came to a swift conclusion due to pre-existing dinner plans.

Reminiscing on the fleeting episode, Harry penned: "If I hadn't been late, we'd have had more time. I cursed myself, got to my feet. A brief goodbye hug," before adding wistfully, "Poof, she was gone. Compared to her, Cinderella was the queen of long goodbyes."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in a relationship since 2016 when they started dating. (Image: Getty)

Following their initial dates, Prince Harry invited Meghan to accompany him to Botswana, a location he holds dear. During their engagement interview, he said: "We camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic. So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other."

Prince Harry later confessed it was during this trip that he realised Meghan was his "soulmate." The couple delved deeper into the details of the trip in their docuseries, revealing that their Botswana adventure occurred after only two meetings.

"I was astonished that she said, 'Yes,'" Harry reminisced. "This woman, that I've really met twice, she's coming to Botswana, and we're gonna be living in a tent for five days! ".

This was last public outing for Prince Harry and Meghan before their relationship was revealed was a Halloween party in 2016.

Prince Harry cursed himself for being late meaning the date couldn't last longer, he revealed. (Image: Getty)

"He came to see me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin, Eugenie, and her husband Jack, they came as well, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple," she told Ellen DeGeneres in a 2021 interview.

Meghan added: "It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we had all of this very bizarre costuming on, and we were able to just sort of have one final, fun night out."

Meghan and Harry revealed exclusive photos from a special evening in their Netflix documentary, recounting how they were tipped off about their impending media exposure. They chose to "pull the pin on the fun grenade" and fully embrace what would be one of their final private dates.