Meghan and Harry’s relationship “started off on Instagram” after she connected with Harry by following his private social media account, royal biographers claim.
According to authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their bestselling biography of the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, Meghan followed Harry’s private Instagram handle, @SpikeyMau5, after a mutual friend who wanted to set them up on a blind date prompted her.
“With no face visible in the profile photo, just a mouse-shaped helmet, it would have meant nothing to most people,” Scobie and Durand wrote, according to Express. “But it was in fact Harry’s private account.”
Harry’s secret Instagram account was partly inspired by his favorite Disc-Jockey, DeadMau5, and his former Facebook alias, “Spike Wells.”
“A big house music fan, he crafted the pseudonym by using part of the name of one of his favorite DJs, DeadMau5,” Scobie and Durand wrote. “Spikey came from a Facebook alias that Harry used for an account he had under the name of Spike Wells.”
“‘Spike’ was [also] a nickname sometimes used for the prince, particularly by Scotland Yard officers,” the authors added.
Harry and Meghan met through a mutual friend, Violet von Westenholz
A mutual friend of Harry and Meghan, Violet von Westenholz, played matchmaker, a source told E! News.
Violet was the daughter of Baron von Westenholz, a friend of Prince Charles. She and Harry were childhood friends and she was one of the Duke of Sussex’s trusted inner circle of friends.
Harry had confided in her that he was “having trouble finding someone.”
“Harry was having a really hard time finding anyone,” the source told E! News. “It was something he had confided in his closest friends about; he was ready to meet someone but it was so hard to actually find the right person.”
Violet met Meghan while doing PR work for Ralph Lauren and they struck up a friendship.
“And so when Harry told Violet he was having trouble finding someone, Violet said she might just have the perfect girl for him,” the source told E! News.
Violet set up a blind date for Meghan and Harry
Royal biographer Katie Nicholl told Channel 5 documentary Meghan: Where Did It All Go Wrong? that it was Violet who prompted Meghan and Harry to look at each other’s Instagram accounts.
Meghan followed Harry’s private Instagram account, and Harry looked through Meghan’s.
Both liked what they saw and Violet arranged a date.
“Amazingly for a royal romance, it started on Instagram,” Nicholl, author of Harry: Life, Loss and Love, said. “It was Violet who really brought them together… she played matchmaker.”
Meghan and Harry started dating in 2016
Harry and Meghan first met in 2016 on a blind date arranged by Violet. According to Scobie and Durand, they fell for each other quickly but kept their relationship private.
Harry first publicly acknowledged he was dating Meghan in November 2016 after media sources first got wind of the romance in October.
The couple got engaged in November 2017 and exchanged vows on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.