Prince Harry was one of the royal family’s most eligible bachelors for years. That was until he first laid eyes on Meghan Markle. Instead of feeling a flutter of excitement, the Duke of Sussex he felt a “punch in the throat.”

This is how hard Prince Harry fell for Meghan Markle in 2016

In his autobiography Spare, Prince Harry detailed how hard he fell for Meghan Markle in 2016. And it was all through the power of social media.

Harry had a secret Instagram account. While scrolling through his feed, he saw an image of a woman with his friend Violet. The image was filtered with dog ears and a tongue.

He wrote, “This woman with Violet, my God. I watched the video several times, then forced myself to put down the phone. Then I picked it up again and watched the video again.”

Harry continued, “I’d traveled the world from top to bottom, literally. For thirty-two years, I’d watched a conveyor belt of faces pass by, and only a handful ever made me look twice. This woman stopped the conveyor belt. This woman smashed the conveyor belt to bits.”

“I’d never seen anyone so beautiful. Why should beauty feel like a punch in the throat? There was an energy about her, a wild joy and playfulness, and something in the way she smiled. She was confident. Free. I could see that. What a privilege it would be, I thought to join her on that journey.”

Meghan Markle wasn’t interested in romance when she met Prince Harry

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as featured in the Netflix documentary ‘Harry & Meghan’ | Netflix

Meghan Markle was focused on her career when she first came into contact with Prince Harry. She was one of the stars of the popular USA series Suits, the creator of the website The Tig, and had a full life with friends.

In the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, she revealed she wasn’t interested in romance when she first met Harry. “I was really, like, intent on being single and just having fun girl time,” Meghan said. “I had a career, my life, I had my path. And then came H. I mean, literally talk about a plot twist.”

Meghan told the cameras that a mutual friend told her Harry was interested in getting to know her. “And then she sent me an email saying, ‘I know you said you’re single, and a friend of mine asked about you, and maybe you’d like to meet him.’ I said, ‘Who is it?’ And she said, ‘It’s Prince Haz.’ And I said, ‘Who’s that?’”

The couple met for drinks at SoHo House in London and hit it off immediately. “That was when it just hit me. ‘Okay, this girl, this woman is amazing. That is everything that I’ve been looking for. And she’s so comfortable and relaxed in my company,” Harry explained.

Harry told Meghan ‘I love you’ first

Three months into their relationship, Prince Harry was reportedly the first to tell Meghan, “I love you.” Harry later told the BBC that falling in love with Meghan so quickly was a “confirmation” that “all the stars were aligned; it was just perfect.” He said they each “fell” into each other’s lives.

Meghan’s greatest concern about Harry was that he is “kind.” Otherwise, any relationship would have been off the table.

The couple’s fast-tracked romance culminated in a November 2017 engagement. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed in May 2018 and are today, the parents of two children.