A timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship: From their first date to their shocking new Netflix documentary

It all began with a blind date and one query: “Is he nice?” Now — six years, two kids and a royal exit later — one of many world’s most well-known {couples}, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, are revealing new particulars of their relationship and what led them to step again from the royal household. 

The six-part Netflix documentary “Harry & Meghan” is already controversial, with trailers revealing provocative soundbites and emotional moments from their lives, and promising rather more. The first three episodes of the docuseries drop Thursday, with the rest of the episodes launched on December 15. 

Here’s what to know concerning the couple on the heart of the media storm.

July 2016: Meeting on a blind date 

The begin of Harry and Meghan’s romance was removed from the royal norm. The British royal and the American actress first met when a mutual buddy set them up on a blind date in 2016, with neither of them having any thought who the opposite was. In truth, the one query Meghan had for his or her mutual buddy previous to that first date was, “Is he nice?” 

“Because if he wasn’t kind, it just, it didn’t seem like it would make sense,” she advised the BBC in 2017. “And so we went and met for a drink and then I think very quickly into that we said, ‘Well, what are we doing tomorrow?'”

They shortly had two extra “back-to-back” dates in London, Prince Harry advised BBC News, and inside a couple of weeks, Meghan traveled to Botswana with the prince, the place they “camped out with each other under the stars.”

“It was fantastic, it was absolutely amazing to get to know her as quickly as I did,” Harry mentioned. 

October 2016: First experiences of their relationship 

The first report of the couple’s relationship appeared within the British tabloid The Sunday Express on October 31, 2016. Citing nameless sources, the outlet report that Harry, then 32, was “besotted” with Meghan, who was 35 on the time.  

November 2016: Prince Harry blasts tabloids for racist and sexist “abuse and harassment”

After that first story on their relationship, shops went wild with the news, a few of it rife with racist and sexist commentary. One tabloid, The Sun, revealed a cowl story referring to Meghan as “Harry girl’s on Pornhub,” making it appear as if the actress had posted intercourse tapes, when in actuality another person had uploaded steamy scenes from her USA community present “Suits” to the Pornhub web site. 

This, amongst different headlines, prompted the royal household to difficulty an uncommon public assertion about relationship, blasting the media for the tone of its protection. 

“The past week has seen a line crossed. [Harry’s] girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments,” the Palace mentioned in a press release. 

“Some of it has been hidden from the public — the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.”

The assertion mentioned Harry was anxious about Meghan’s security and was “deeply disappointed” he hadn’t been in a position to shield her from the maelstrom. 

“It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm,” the assertion mentioned. “He knows commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game’. He strongly disagrees — it is her life and his.”

September 2017: Meghan’s first massive interview and public look with Harry 

Meghan Markle’s first main interview about her royal romance with the prince was revealed in September 2017 in Vanity Fair, throughout which she mentioned the “waves” of challenges that had emerged within the couple’s first yr. 

“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,” she advised the journal. “Nothing about me changed. I’m still the same person that I am, and I’ve never defined myself by my relationship.”

That interview led British betting-exchange Betfair to advertise odds on when the couple would get engaged. Soon after the interview’s publication, Meghan and Harry made their first official public look collectively as a pair, holding arms on the Invictus Games, an occasion based by Harry to assist wounded veterans. 

November 2017: A royal engagement

Two months after their first joint look and a bit over one yr after they first began courting, Harry’s dad, Prince Charles — now King Charles, following the loss of life of Queen Elizabeth II — formally introduced Harry and Meghan’s engagement. 

Many key members of the royal household, together with Charles and Harry’s brother Prince William, introduced their pleasure concerning the news. 

May 2018: A historic marriage ceremony at St. George’s Chapel

Harry and Meghan’s marriage ceremony was lavish, historic and considerably controversial. Meghan grew to become the primary American in a long time to marry into the royal household. The final to take action was Wallis Simpson, who married the previous Edward VIII after he abdicated the throne in 1936. 

Meghan additionally grew to become the primary identified mixed-race lady to marry into the royal household. 

The marriage ceremony ceremony included the primary African American presiding bishop to assist officiate a royal marriage ceremony, Michael Curry. 

Upon their marriage, they got the titles Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

October 2018: Couple anticipating their first youngster 

The royal household introduced on October 15, 2018 that Harry and Meghan have been anticipating their first youngster collectively.

Palace officers mentioned the couple “appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.” 

May 2019: Baby Archie is born 

On May 6, 2019, Meghan delivered a child boy they named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. 

Archie grew to become the primary identified youngster of mixed-race heritage to be born into the royal household. The celebration was considerably overshadowed, as Meghan later revealed that there have been “several conversations” by royal insiders speculating on “how dark” the newborn’s pores and skin colour can be. 

October 2019: Documentary reveals chaos behind the general public highlight

ITV News unveiled a documentary that includes interviews with the royal couple, who mentioned their current journey to Africa, what it was like for Harry to retrace the steps his mom took simply months earlier than her tragic loss of life, and the couple’s ongoing battle with the press. For the prince, the fixed turmoil with the media felt triggering, because it was a paparazzi-filled automobile chase that led to his mom’s loss of life in 1997, when he was 12. 

“I think being part of this family — in this role, in this job — every single time I see a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back,” Harry mentioned within the interview. “In that respect, it’s the worst reminder of her life as opposed to the best.” 

Meghan was additionally requested of her struggles with the press. 

“Not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she advised ITV’s Tom Bradby, tearfully agreeing that she had been struggling. “It’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”  

January 2020: Plans to step away from “senior” roles 

Just a few months after these interviews, Harry and Meghan made the gorgeous announcement that they’d be stepping away from “senior” royal roles. They mentioned they’d work to develop into financially unbiased and break up their time between the U.Okay. and North America. They made the choice, they mentioned, partly to “raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter.” 

On their new web site, Sussex Royal, couple mentioned they’d not be utilizing the British pool system of royal correspondents, which, regardless of being “regarded internationally as credible sources,” really assist in the “amplifying of frequent misreporting.” 

February 2021: Official break up from the royal household

After months of hypothesis, Buckingham Palace introduced that Harry and Meghan wouldn’t be returning as working members of the royal household. 

“Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman mentioned. “…While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family.”

A spokesperson for the couple additionally launched a press release on the time, saying that they’d “remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world,” no matter their “official role.” 

“We can all live a life of service,” the assertion mentioned. “Service is universal.” 

The couple ultimately settled into a brand new dwelling in California and introduced a sequence of latest tasks, together with offers with Spotify and Netflix.

March 2021: Explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey 

In a gorgeous interview, Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey in a prime-time particular on CBS and spoke out concerning the quite a few struggles that came about behind closed doorways on the palace. Among different issues, they recounted conversations about “how dark” their son Archie’s pores and skin colour can be, and described the dearth of assist that resulted in Meghan feeling that she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” 

They additionally shared that regardless of many tabloid recommendations, Harry had a “really good relationship” together with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. However, he mentioned he was “disappointed” by actions of his father, and mentioned he and his older brother, Prince William, have been on “different paths.” 

While they unveiled a slew of accusations and revelations within the interview, additionally they disclosed a contented growth: they have been anticipating a child lady. 

“It’s a girl,” Prince Harry advised Winfrey in the course of the interview. The couple had introduced the being pregnant on Valentine’s Day — 37 years to the day after Harry’s mom, the late Princess Diana, introduced her being pregnant. 

June 2021: Baby Lilibet is born

The couple’s second youngster was born on June 4, 2021. They named her Lilibet Diana — Lilibet being the household nickname for Queen Elizabeth, and Diana in honor of Harry’s late mom.

December 2022: The “full truth” in controversial Netflix docuseries

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they will be revealing rather more about what’s gone on behind the scenes of their relationship and throughout the royal household, with the premiere of the Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan.” In a trailer for the sequence, Prince Harry teased that solely they know the “full truth” about what has occurred over the previous six years. 

“No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth,” Prince Harry says, later intimating that he’ll expose some sordid tales of royal life.

“There’s a hierarchy of the family. You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories,” he says.  “…It’s a dirty game.”