MEGHAN MARKLE and Prince Harry only have four months to wait before their much-anticipated wedding in May, and fans of the couple can expect something far from a traditional affair. They only dated 16 months before their engagement, but how did the young royal and Suits star meet?

Meghan Markle, 36, and Prince Harry, 33, are set to tie the knot on May 19, and the American actress already appears to be breaking away from tradition after reports revealed she hopes to speak at her reception following the wedding ceremony.

The royal bride-to-be is planning an “affectionate” tribute to her new husband and will express her gratitude to the Queen, her family and friends, according to The Sunday Times.

Meghan and Harry dated less than two years when they made their engagement announcement on November 27.

It didn’t take long for the couple to fall in love with one another, but how did they first meet?

In a televised interview on the day of their engagement announcement the couple revealed how their romance began.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry - how did they meet?GETTY

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry – how did they meet?

It was definitely a set up…it was a blind date for sure

Harry revealed they have mutual friend to thank for the meeting.

He said: “It was definitely a set up…it was a blind date for sure.”

Around three or four weeks later, the smitten royal managed to persuade Meghan to join him in Botswana, where they camped out with each other under the stars.

Harry said: “She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.

“So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to know each other.”

 

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry - how did they meet?GETTY

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their engagement November 27 last year

 

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry - how did they meet?GETTY

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are getting married on May 19

Despite both Harry and Meghan being in the public eye, the couple claim they knew little about each other before their first meeting.

During the same interview Meghan said: “Because I’m from the States, you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family, and so while I now understand very clearly there’s a global interest there, I didn’t know much about him.

“And so the only thing that I had asked her when she wanted to set us up was – I had one question – I said, ‘well, is he nice?’ Because if he wasn’t kind it didn’t seem like it would make sense.

“And so we went and had a drink and then I think very quickly into that we said, ‘well what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again’.”

Harry added that until they met, he didn’t know of Meghan – he had never seen an episode of Suits.

 

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry - how did they meet?GETTY

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry: A mutual friend introduced the couple to one another

He said: “I’d ever even heard about her until this friend said, ‘Meghan Markle’, and I was like, ‘okay, give me a bit of background’.

“I’d never watched Suits, I’d never heard of Meghan before. And I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her and there she was sitting there. I was like, ‘okay, well I’m going to have to really up my game here and sit down and make sure I’ve got a good chat’.”

Meghan and Harry then spent the next couple of months getting to know more about one another.

Meghan said: “Anything I learned about him and his family was what he would share with me and vice versa.

“So both of us it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other.”