Prince Harry and Meghan Markle third wedding anniversary: A timeline of their relationship

Happy third wedding anniversary to Meghan and Harry!

The couple wed on May 19 2018, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, after a whirlwind romance of just two years.

From highly successful tours of South Africa and Australasia, to Megxit, to lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify, to having their first child, Archie... the couple have packed a lot into their three years of marriage. And, with Meghan heavily pregnant and Harry’s major Apple+ documentary The Me You Can’t See due to air on Friday, the couple are showing no sign of slowing down.

Here’s a look at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s time together since they first met in 2016.

Royal Wedding 2018: The best pictures you might have missed

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July 2016

The couple are introduced via a mutual friend - whose true identity remains unknown - in July 2016.

Soho House consultant Markus Anderson, fashion designer Misha Nonoo, stylist Jessica Mulroney and Violet von Westenholz - a family friend of the royals - are all rumoured matchmakers.

Their first date was documented in the book Finding Freedom.

The couple met at Soho restaurant The Dean Street Townhouse - reportedly thanks to Anderson who arranged a private room for the pair. Harry had a beer, and Meghan, a martini.

According to the book, there was “a palpable attraction” between the pair and Meghan told friends the date “could have legs.”

Harry was left in a “trance” after the date - and later said he knew Meghan was “the one” after their first meeting.

The couple reportedly enjoyed another date hours later at the same venue.

Harry asked Meghan to accompany him on a trip to Botswana for their third date where they “camped out with each other under the stars”, getting to know each other over five days.

Within three months, the couple had said “I love you” to each other, Finding Freedom suggests.

“The first time Meghan and I met up for her to come and stay with me, we met up in a supermarket in London, pretending we didn’t know each other, texting each other from the other side of the aisles,” he recently said on the Armchair Expert podcast. “There’s people looking at me, giving me all these weird looks, and coming up to me and saying ‘hi’.”

October 2016

The secret is out. The Express became the first newspaper to publish news that Harry had a new girlfriend. A month later, Kensington Palace released a statement on behalf of Harry condemning the “wave of abuse and harassment” faced by Meghan from the global media.

March 2017

Meghan accompanies Harry to Jamaica for the wedding of the prince’s friend Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip to Lara Hughes-Young.

In May, Meghan and Harry attended their first public event together at the Polo in Coworth Park.

September 2017

Meghan attends the opening ceremony of Harry’s Invictus Games in Toronto, but they do not sit together. The couple make their first public appearance together at a Wheelchair Tennis match during the competition.

Then, Meghan opens up about her relationship for the first time in the October 2017 issue of Vanity Fair.

She told the magazine:“ We’re a couple. We’re in love. I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that’s just ours. But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story."

Royal Wedding 2018: Best Pictures

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November 2017

After months of speculation, Prince Charles announced the engagement of the pair on November 27 2017. The engagement ring, said to be designed by Harry, was made of two stones that belonged to Princess Diana.

In their engagement interview, the couple reveal Harry proposed over a roast chicken during a “typical” and “cosy” night at his home in Kensington Palace.

When interviewed on the day of their engagement announcement, Harry described how destiny appeared to intervene in their lives: “So the fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was sort of confirmation to me that everything – all the stars – were aligned. Everything was just perfect.

“It was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life.”

It was announced that the wedding would take place on May 19 2018.

December 2017

Meghan and Harry join the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to attend the Christmas service at Sandringham, meaning Meghan spent the festive period with her husband to be.

May 2018

On May 14, three days before the wedding, Meghan’s father, Thomas pulled out of attending after a series of paparazzi photographs he appeared in were exposed as staged. Meghan’s father later suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised.

The wedding was attended by some 2,000 people. Meghan’s dress was made by British designer Clare Waight Keller, of Givenchy.

After tying the knot in St George’s Chapel, their wedding night was full of themed cocktails, eating up-market fast food, watching a spectacular fireworks display and dancing to celebrity DJ Idris Elba at nearby Frogmore House.

For the private reception of 200, Meghan wore a second dress by Stella McCartney. She also wore a ring which belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales - an impressive, emerald cut aquamarine ring which belonged to his late, beloved mother.

Harry drove his new wife from Windsor Castle in a silver blue classic convertible Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero which was originally manufactured in 1968 and has been converted to electric power.

October 2018

Kensington Palace announced on 15 October Harry and Meghan were expecting a child. The announcement also coincided with the first day of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s official tour of Australasia. Speculation mounted about whether Meghan was expecting at Princess Eugenie’s wedding owing to her loose coat.

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor - In pictures

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May 6

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is born at 05:26am.

He weighed 7lb 3oz and The Duke of Sussex was present for the birth at the Portland hospital in London.

January 2020

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they intended to step back from their roles as working royals in January 2020 after spending months in Canada over Christmas.

Some argued the writing was on the wall. Meghan had told ITV’s Tom Bradby months earlier during their tour of South Africa “not many people have asked me if I’m ok” as she detailed her struggles as a new mother while living in the spotlight.

An emergency summit was called: with the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William coming together at Sandringham to make a plan.

Much was reportedly discussed - including funding and security for the couple - and that “megxit” would be subject to a 12-month review.

March

Harry and Meghan officially step down as senior royals and take part in their final engagements.

April

September

The couple sign a major deal with Netflix thought to be worth millions. Netflix said the couple would produce “content that informs but also gives hope.”

October

The couple launch their website for their charitable organisation Archewell. They speak to the Standard about racism in the UK to mark Black History Month.

In a candid exclusive interview to mark the start of Black History Month, Prince Harry also spoke powerfully of how the UK can be made a better country by white people understanding more about life for those “of a different coloured skin”.

November

Princy Harry on The Late Late Show with James Corden

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In an article in the New York Times, Meghan reveals she had a miscarriage in July and experienced an “almost unbearable grief.” She said her husband was left holding the “shattered pieces” of her heart.

Meghan is widely praised for her honesty.

December

Meghan and Harry sign a multi-year deal with audio streaming service Spotify, thought to be worth millions.

February 2021

The Duchess of Sussex wins her high court privacy case after a two-year legal battle. Three days later, the couple announce they are expecting their second child. The Queen is said to be “delighted”.

Days later, Megxit is confirmed as permanent, with the couple stripped of their patronages.

In a statement, the couple say they have “offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role”, adding “service is universal”.

In an interview with James Corden, host of the US talk show The Late Late Show, he also discusses Archie’s first word, catching up with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh via Zoom and how he doesn’t mind Netflix show The Crown as it is “fictional.”

Harry insisted that he will “never walk away” from the royal family and he did “what any husband or father would do” by emigrating to America.

Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - In pictures

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In an extraordinary interview, the Duke of Sussex said he had “stepped back not stepped away” because his mental health was being “destroyed” and maintained that his “life is public service”.

March

A preview clip of the anticipated “tell all” Oprah interview is released, showing Harry suggesting his “biggest fear” was that “history would repeat itself” in a reference to the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Several other clips are released - with tension mounting over how revealing the interview will be.

Days later, the Duchess of Sussex says she is “saddened” by a report in the Times that she faced a bullying complaint during her time at Kensington Palace.

On March 7, the interview is finally aired - unleashing a dramatic set of bombshell revelations. Meghan mental health decline - and the alleged lack of support from the Palace - along with and the couple’s allegations of racism at the heart of the monarchy were among the major topics that unfolded.

Later that month, Harry said he was “really excited” to be taking a new role at US professional coaching and mental health firm BetterUp. A day later, he lands anew position – at a US think tank looking into misinformation and disinformation in the media.

May

Speaking on the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Harry said: “There is no blame.

“I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically.

“It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say ‘you know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you’.”

Harry also revealed as a young man he did not want to be a working royal: “I was in my early 20s and it was a case of, ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be doing this.’”

The Prince of Wales ignored questions about the Duke of Sussex who has suggested Charles’ parenting left him with “genetic pain and suffering”.

Charles ignored questions and carried on walking when asked about his son’s comments by a BBC reporter as he arrived for a visit to a family business in Cardiff hours after the podcast was broadcast.

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