How Prince Harry 'irritated' Meghan Markle and left her 'not interested'

Prince Harry has made no secret of his nerves ahead of meeting Meghan Markle for their first date in London, but it was made particularly stressful due to traffic issues. The Duke admitted in his memoir, Spare, that his lack of communication about running late was "surely irritating" for his date, who he left waiting for ages. 

In the book, he explained the situation. I apologised: 'Horrible traffic.' Her reply: 'OK' I told myself: She might leave. I told my bodyguards: She’s gonna leave. As we inched towards the restaurant I texted again: Moving, but still slow. 'Can’t you just get out?' How to explain? No, I couldn’t. 

"I wasn’t able to go running through the streets of London. It would be like a llama running through the streets. It would make a scene, cause security nightmares; never mind the press it might attract. If I was spotted high-stepping towards Soho House, that would be the end of whatever privacy we might briefly enjoy. Also, I had three bodyguards with me. I couldn’t ask them suddenly to take part in a track-and-field event.

"Texting wasn’t the way to convey this, however. So I just...didn’t answer. Which surely irritated her."

Even if the Duchess was miffed about this delay, Harry wrote: "She said she forgave me." The end of the date brought up Harry's lateness again, as Meghan was pushed for time so had to leave. Harry penned: 'Sorry, I have to go.' 'Go? So soon?' 'I have dinner plans.'

If I hadn’t been late, we’d have had more time. I cursed myself, got to my feet. A brief goodbye hug."

The rest is, as they say, history, as the couple continued to date in secret, and after going public with their romance, they got engaged and tied the knot in 2018. 

Meghan Markle's first impression

In Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries, Meghan had her chance to tell her side of the first date story. She admitted that the Prince running 30 minutes late didn't give her a great first impression. She said: "I was like, 'Oh is this what he does? Got it. Like this I'm not doing, I'm not gonna sit and wait for him.' I was just not interested in that."

When Harry finally arrived, Meghan realised he was genuinely embarrassed rather than arrogant: "You were genuinely so embarrassed and late... you were a red hot sweaty mess."