Meghan Markle and Prince Harry managed to keep their blossoming relationship a secret for some time before the news broke, leading to a difficult realisation for the actress
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were able to enjoy privacy in the early days of their relationship, getting to know each other and falling in love before news of their romance went public.
But it was only a matter of time before their secret was out – and the couple got the news they were dreading during a night out in Toronto. Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote about that life-changing moment in their book Finding Freedom, claiming that Meghan called a friend shortly afterwards to relay a devastating realisation.
They wrote: “One night late in October in Toronto, Harry was happy, and so was Meghan. Until they received a call from one of Harry’s aides at Kensington Palace. It wasn’t good news. A tabloid was going to run with the story of their relationship. Their main worry was that her place would be besieged by photographers within 24 hours. They had little time to think, because there were only a couple of paparazzi in Toronto but it wouldn’t be long before photographers flew in from New York and LA, all hoping to get that first picture of the happy couple.”
Harry was inundated with calls from his staff, many of them trying to get him to return to London because they were concerned about his slimmed down security team. But he refused to leave. Scobie and Durand claimed that while Meghan was nervous about what was to come, she was also relieved that she no longer had to lie to family and friends. They also stated that they received more than 100 messages from former friends and acquaintances looking for gossip.
But the authors claim the true extent of the fame that came with dating a royal was a huge shock to Meghan, and resulted in her sending one particularly worried message to a friend. “Prior to meeting Harry, the only times she experienced cameras were on a set or on a red carpet,” they wrote. “The security was necessary. Shortly after the news broke, a photographer from an LA-based photo agency had scaled the fence into her back garden and waited for Meghan by her car, hoping to get a picture before she headed out to run errands. Meghan was terrified and called the police.’This is how it’s always going to be, isn’t it?’, she said to a friend.” Of course, the couple stuck with it and made it official in 2017 when Harry got down on one knee at their Kensington Palace home. They tied the knot in a ceremony at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel in May 2018.
