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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have opened up about the early days of their relationship in their Netflix docuseries released today. 

Meghan, 41, said she had planned a hot girl summer in 2016 and that Prince Harry was the ‘plot twist’ when they met in July. 

The couple met over Instagram, with the first picture Prince Harry ever saw of his future wife being a snap of Meghan with a Snapchat dog filter on.  They then talked over FaceTime for some time as they got to know each other. 

Harry, 37,  who is now based in Montecito, LA, with his wife and their two children, admitted to being late on their first date, as the couple shared text messages and other details about how they got together before the world knew. 

The couple also talked about how they used disguises in order to keep their relationship private. 

The claims have surfaced in the first episode of the couple’s explosive Netflix docuseries, which was released this morning. 

It comes as the Palace is said to be ‘poised to respond robustly to any unjust claims’  but Charles, William and Kate ‘WON’T be watching.’

Follow our liveblog for more revelations from the docuseries’ first three episodes as they are released on Netflix.  

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have opened up about their first date in the first episode of their Netflix docuseries, which was released today

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have opened up about their first date in the first episode of their Netflix docuseries, which was released today

Speaking in the first episode of the docuseries, Meghan’s friend Lindsay Jill Roth said that in the summer of 2016 Meghan ‘had a few different trips planned, and she was just going to be free.’

Prince Harry revealed the first time he saw a picture of Meghan was a snap of her with a dog filter on. 

The couple said this selfie was a picture of the moment they decided to give their relationship a go

The couple said this selfie was a picture of the moment they decided to give their relationship a go

‘Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, like a Snapchat,’ he recalled. 

‘Oh gosh, isn’t that whole thing, it’s got like doggy ears,’ Meghan said, laughing. 

‘That was the first thing, “I was like who is that?”,’ Harry said, with Meghan adding: ‘That’s ridiculous.

The couple discussed how they began to send texts and selfies to each other as they tried to figure out what their relationship would be. 

Meghan admitted she had planned a single girl summer and ‘had a career life and a path and then came H.’ 

Reflecting on why he fell for the Hollywood actress, Harry said: ‘I’m my mother’s son – I make decisions from my heart not my head.’

The first picture Prince Harry saw of Meghan Markle was a snap of the actress with a dog filter on

The first picture Prince Harry saw of Meghan Markle was a snap of the actress with a dog filter on 

He added: ‘I just opened my heart to see what’s going to happen.’

Harry reflected on the ‘unhealthy’ way in which the love story started.

‘Dating became a combination of car cashes, multi surveillance driving and disguises which isn’t particularly a healthy way to start a relationship,’ he said said. 

 But Meghan added the couple were also ‘relaxed and easy’ in the early days of getting serious with one another. 

‘It was just relaxed and easy. We just got top know each other. Truly, it was like any other couple: “what do you like to eat, what do you like to cook, what movies do you like?”

The son of Princess Diana also admitted that his experience with past relationships left him unsure of whether he wanted to pursue a new one. 

‘Every relationship that I had, weeks or months, were splattered over the newspapers, the person and their family harassed, their lives turned upside down, by the third or fourth girlfriend, I didn’t know if I wanted this,’ he admitted. 

‘So when I got to meet “M”, I was terrified of her being driven away from me by the media, the media who had turned away so many people away from me. 

‘I knew that the only way it could work was to keep it secret for as long as possible,’ he added. 

The couple were filmed reminiscing about their first date in a sneak peak of the show released as the  first three episodes dropped on Netflix today. 

‘You were late,’ Meghan laughed, saying Harry kept messaging her, writing: “I’m struck in traffic, I’m so sorry, I am in traffic, I am sorry”.’

Harry added he was ‘panicking, I was freaking out, I was so sweaty.’

Meghan said waiting alone for him to show up left her wondering: ‘is this what he does, this I’m not doing.’

She said she wondered if he was ‘one of the guys who has so much of an ego that any girl would wait and sit around for 30 minutes for you. 

‘I was not interested in that,’ she added. 

But her doubts were proved wrong when Harry actually showed up.  

‘When I walked in, I was hot and sweaty and a red ball of mash,;’

Meghan laughed and recounted how Harry was: ‘genuinely like so embarrassed you were late.

King Charles and Prince William are poised to issue a ‘swift and robust’ response to any unjust claims in the Netflix series – but William and his wife Kate are not likely to watch it themselves, sources said.

Senior royals are said to be bracing for the worst and will be prepared to address any unfounded accusations as the new series drops on the streaming service at 8am.

King Charles and Prince William (pictured with Queen Consort and the Princess of Wales) are poised to issue a 'swift and robust' response to any unjust claims

King Charles and Prince William (pictured with Queen Consort and the Princess of Wales) are poised to issue a ‘swift and robust’ response to any unjust claims

The promotional art for the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made an appearance at the Ripple of Hope Awards in New York last night

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made an appearance at the Ripple of Hope Awards in New York last night

Left-leaning Oscar nominated director behind Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series

 

Liz Garbus, the Left-leaning Oscar nominated director behind Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series has had a 25-year career working on projects about oppressed women and is ‘long admired’ by Duchess of Sussex .

Ms Garbus is known for her critically acclaimed exposes and documenting the stories of ‘survivors’, and worked on the Handmaids Tale finale.

Raised in New York by a civil rights lawyer father, her career has spanned almost 25 years, covering documentaries, true crime and high-end drama.

Her notable titles include The Farm: Angola, USA; Bobby Fischer Against The World; Love; Marilyn; and The Fourth Estate.

The Duchess of Sussex previously suggested that the show’s direction was in the hands of left-leaning filmmaker Liz Garbus ‘even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it’.

She said: ‘It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. 

But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have already made a number of claims in two trailers released by Netflix in recent days, saying they had no protection from the Palace and accused aides of actively leaking and ‘planting’ stories against them as part of a ‘dirty game’.

But the Royal Family believes the series will actually by slim on new revelations.

A source told The Mirror: ‘There’s a real feeling in the camp that Harry and Meghan are making a lot of noise and there isn’t much more to say.

‘But preparations are being made for all outcomes, especially if there are unjust accusations being made.’

Members of the Sussexes’ now defunct household are also said to be ‘seething with rage’ over trailers for the six-part documentary

Officials from both Buckingham and Kensington Palace will watch the first three episodes of the series on Thursday morning.

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But it is understood that the Prince and Princess of Wales will refuse to watch the first three episodes of the documentary.

An insider also told The Sun that the royals are reluctant to engage in a tit-for-tat battle over the series.

They said: ‘If there are parts which are blatantly wrong, then it is only right that they are corrected.

‘The trailers already have some glaring errors and misrepresentations, which doesn’t bode well for the full series. But the plan is to keep schtum and carry on.”

But sources told the newspaper they are unlikely to respond until the full series has been released – due next Thursday.

Aides are understood to have been briefed by the King and Prince of Wales to issue a ‘swift and robust’ response if required.

 ‘If there is a need to respond to anything in the upcoming series then you can be assured that response will be swift and robust.’

It is understood that Netflix offered a right of reply to senior ryal to allow them the chance to respond to any allegations featured in the series.

But Buckingham and Kensington Palace both deny receiving any such approach.

Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, have vowed that it is just the ‘beginning’ and have earlier spoken of ‘sweeping down walls of oppression’.

But Netflix’s use of ‘misleading’ footage in two trailers for the series would not have been tolerated by British broadcasters, according to producers.

Former BBC and Channel 4 commissioning editor Peter Grimsdale said lawyers would have intervened before the trailer was relased.

He told The Times: ‘It’s almost hard-wired into us to make sure we know where every shot comes from because that’s the sort of thing that if there was complaints about it, you would be in real trouble. 

‘There’s a certain duty of care. I think people working for Sky would feel the same way. It’s partly a function of regulations just being different in America.’

Mr Grimsdale added: ‘99.9 per cent of the time this doesn’t happen because every one checks.’

Members of the Sussexes' now defunct household are said to be 'seething with rage' over trailers for the six-part documentary

Members of the Sussexes’ now defunct household are said to be ‘seething with rage’ over trailers for the six-part documentary

The couple have been shown claiming they had no protection from the Palace and that aides actively leaked and 'planted stories' against them as part of a 'dirty game'

The couple have been shown claiming they had no protection from the Palace and that aides actively leaked and ‘planted stories’ against them as part of a ‘dirty game’

Harry and Meghan were asked if they were putting money before family as they graced a star-studded gala

Harry and Meghan were asked if they were putting money before family as they graced a star-studded gala

The timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan’s bombshell documentary series  

September 2020 – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s production company, Archewell Productions, signed a reported $100million deal with the streaming giant.

July 2021 – Meghan announces first project with Netflix – an animated series called Pearl. She was taking on the roles of ‘creator and executive producer’ – marking the first time the former actress and Suits star would work in the position of EP. 

September – Spotted filming in New York at the Global Citizen Live event 

April 2022 – Spotted filming at the Invictus Games in the Hague 

May – Reports emerge Netflix are hoping for an ‘at-home with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex-style’ docuseries 

Meghan’s animated series Pearl is dropped by Netflix as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by the streaming service’s drop in subscribers. 

June – Couple were told they wouldn’t be able to film while attending Jubilee celebrations 

August – Meghan hints that the documentary could focus on their ‘love story 

September – The Queen dies. Reports emerge the the couple want to ‘downplay’ what they’ve said about the royal family in the documentary 

October – It was reported how the Duke and Duchess were ‘at odds’ with the production staff on their Netflix docuseries because the ‘panicked’ couple wanted to make ‘such extensive edits’ that the team believe the project could be ‘shelved indefinitely’.

Meghan then appears to try to distance herself from the project during an interview.

She suggested that its direction was in the hands of left-leaning filmmaker Liz Garbus ‘even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it’.

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At the end of the month, it’s announced Prince Harry’s memoir will be released on January 10 and will be called Spare. 

November – It was reported Prince Harry was trying to get Netflix to postpone the documentary until after Christmas so it was released at around the same time as his bombshell memoir.

It is claimed Prince Harry and Meghan first hired Oscar-nominated director Garrett Bradley for the series – before they had a falling out and she left.

Meanwhile Netflix face heavy backlash over the fifth series of The Crown, and reports suggest the streaming platform might push back the release date of Harry and Meghan’s series in response.

However, it is then revealed the couple will release the documentary on December 8. 

December 1 – First trailer is released, showcasing a number of highly personal images 

December 8 – Part one of the documentary is released 

December 15 – Part two of the documentary is set to be released  

January 10 2023 – Prince Harry’s memoir Spare is due to be released 

It comes after the Sussexes faced an awkward grilling from journalists about their explosive documentary in New York last night. 

Harry and Meghan were asked if they were putting money before family as they graced a star-studded gala hosted by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organisation, where they received an award for fighting racism in the Royal Family.

The pair did not give a direct response, but the duke could be heard saying ‘so many questions’ before they were escorted inside.

Earlier, they told the ceremony that their war against ‘oppression’ has only just begun.

Harry and Meghan delivered the politically charged pre-taped remarks after being honoured with an award for fighting racism in the Royal Family by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Foundation, a prize that counts Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton among its former recipients.

Meghan also talked about her struggle with suicidal thoughts since becoming a member of the Royal Family, telling the audience she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ and revealing that the decision not to end her life ‘wasn’t easy’, in remarks echoing those made during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In a speech praising the late RFK, the Duke of Sussex told the star-studded Ripple of Hope Gala: ‘As we all face a complete and challenging time in the world, we choose the path of optimism of care for each other and our communities. 

‘We understand this honour, not about the culmination of a life’s work, but instead and in many ways for us, a beginning.’

He said: ‘Bobby Kennedy said, ”Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”’

His wife said: ‘The enduring dream of RFK of a just and peaceful world is so much more than a simple hope. It’s a direct ask, a specific challenge, a call to action, a test of individual courage and collective spirit. And his appeal to humanity is as relevant today as it was in 1966 when he stood before the University of Cape Town, a place we’ve visited and hold close to our hearts. And he delivered a vision for the common good of society.

‘He also said those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance’.

If you enjoyed this story 

Everything we know about Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary: When is it released? Who does it feature? And how many episodes are there?

And King Charles III ‘could not invite’ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to his Coronation over Netflix documentary, royal expert claims

And Meghan Markle’s makeup artist Daniel Martin praises the Sussexes for their fight against ‘racial injustice’ – after creating glowing beauty look for Duchess to accept ‘anti-racism’ award

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