We already know that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were introduced by a mutual female friend, thought to be either Violet von Westenholz or designer Misha Nonoo—but in a modern twist, it appears that the whole thing started on Instagram. Per royal commentator Katie Nicholl, who is featured Channel 5's new documentary about Meghan Markle, the couple did a little Instagram stalking before asking a mutual friend (who Nicholl says was von Westenholz, not Nonoo) to introduce them.
Said Nicholl, per The Sun: "Amazingly for a royal romance, it started on Instagram." She went on to note that Meghan and Harry reportedly looked through each other's Instagrams and liked what they saw. After that, "it was Violet who really brought them together."
Harry and Meghan in 2017, shortly before announcing their engagement.
But wait, I hear you say—Prince Harry had an Instagram account? Well, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand revealed in 2020's Finding Freedom that Harry had used the username "@SpikeyMau5" on Instagram, a reference to his nickname "Spikey" (he also used the alias "Spike Wells" on Facebook). It's not clear what kind of content Harry posted, but the account's avatar was a Deadmau5-style mouse ear helmet.
Meghan began following the account in 2016. "With no face visible in the profile photo, just a mouse-shaped helmet, it would have meant nothing to most people. But it was in fact Harry’s private account," wrote Scobie and Durand.
In a BBC interview following their engagement, Meghan revealed the question she asked the friend who introduced them. She said: "I didn’t know much about him. So I only asked one question—is he nice? If he wasn’t kind it didn’t seem like it would make sense to me."
Meghan, of course, had an Instagram account until she joined the royal family. Scobie and Durand revealed in Finding Freedom that she had posted a telling photo on the evening of her first date with Harry.
They wrote: “Much bolder was Meghan’s public Instagram post the same night of their first solo date: a photo of a Love Hearts candy with the inscription ‘Kiss Me’ and the caption ‘Lovehearts in #London’."
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