Prince William Gave an Explicit Two-Word Reply When Prince Harry Told Him He Was Dating Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty)

published 28 May 2023

During a quiet night at Kensington Palace, Prince Harry opened up to his brother, Prince William, and his sister-in-law Kate that he was dating someone new. After he had been dating the American actress Meghan Markle for a few months, he told William and Kate about her over dinner, as Harry claims in his memoir Spare that his brother “knew something was going on” and wanted to know more.

After Prince George and Princess Charlotte had gone to sleep (Prince Louis wasn’t born yet), Harry made William and Kate swear to keep the news secret before telling them that he was dating Meghan, who was then known as Rachel Zane on the popular television show Suits.

Harry wrote in Spare “Their mouths fell open. They turned to each other. Then Willy turned to me and said ‘F— off.’”

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Harry writes that William and Kate said that was impossible, which left Harry baffled. The couple told Harry they were fans of the show Suits, so they knew exactly who Meghan was. Per The Mirror, “later in the book, Harry recalls their first meeting—admitting he was more nervous for that introduction than he was the Queen’s,” the outlet reports.

“After a wait, the door opened, and there was my big brother, a bit dressed up,” Harry writes. “Nice trousers, nice shirt, open collar. I introduced Meg, who leaned in and gave him a hug, which completely freaked him out. He recoiled. Willy didn’t hug strangers, whereas Meg hugged most strangers. The moment was a classic collision of cultures, like a flashlight-torch, which felt both funny and charming.”

It was a quick visit as the brothers were headed on a shooting trip, but William and Meghan apparently exchanged a few “warm words.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.