Meghan Markle Shares Rare Video From Her Early Days of Relationship With Prince Harry
A decade was depicted through a single swipe when Meghan Markle shared a post of herself and Prince Harry on Instagram. It reflected how, for her, 2016 and 2026 have been more like mirror images rather than milestones apart. As the Duchess leaned into the social media trend to share throwback content from ten years ago, she first posted an unseen recent clip of herself and her now-husband. In the black-and-white clip, they were twirling around in an empty field, dancing, kissing, and just enjoying their time together. The second slide was a picture from 2016 when they went to Botswana for their third date. The post perfectly echoed the symmetry between then and now. The caption said, “When 2026 feels just like 2016… you had to be there.” The credit reading “our daughter” also revealed that Princess Lilibet captured her parents’ loving video on the first slide.
The reflection sits atop a well-documented beginning. Harry and Meghan first met on a blind date in early July 2016 after being set up by a mutual friend, and began officially dating that year. Markle had later revealed that the pair had dated quietly for over six months before their relationship became public and dominated headlines. During their engagement interview with the BBC, while recalling how immediately things took shape, the Duchess said, “We met for a drink, and then I think very quickly into that we said, ‘Well, what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.” Their plans then included back-to-back dates in London in the days that followed.
Harry has also revisited how their first-ever date went and even mentioned it in his memoir, Spare. He wrote, “She was wearing a black sweater, jeans, heels. I knew nothing about clothes, but I knew she was chic.” The Duke was nervous as he had arrived at the date a little late and had the opportunity to see the actress for the first time after talking to her via text. He added, “I’d seen so many photos of her from fashion shoots and TV sets, all glam and glossy, but here she was, in the flesh, no frills, no filter… and even more beautiful. ‘Heart-attack beautiful.” He concluded the overwhelming emotions by saying, “conversation, pleasantries, the Queen’s English, all [becoming] a challenge.”
Within days, both have said, it was clear that the relationship was like no other. It then prompted a swift courtship and an engagement just over a year long. While candidly speaking in their Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, they shared more details about their proposal. While they were at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace on the day it happened, Harry recalled, “I did pop a bottle of champagne while she was greasing a chicken. And that slightly gave the game away.” Meghan also shared video calling her friend Jess, believed to be Jessica Lulroney, while exclaiming, “Oh my God, Jess. It’s happening… Oh my God. He told me not to peek.”
The throughline from their first drink to today extends beyond romance into family and philanthropy. On December 19, the Sussex couple released a video highlighting their work with the newly renamed Archewell Philanthropies over the past several years, paired with a holiday greeting. Their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, also appeared in the new footage from Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, where the family had volunteered before Thanksgiving to help prepare food. In that context, the decade spanning post on Markle’s social media read less like nostalgia and more like continuity, the same joy now shared and recorded by the next generation.