Meghan Markle’s ties to the British Royal Family were in place long before her romantic involvement with Prince Harry began in July 2016.

Back in December 2014, Meghan, who was then an emerging actress, attended the prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach event. Interestingly, the same event was graced by Princess Eugenie, marking a point of intersection in their social circles.

Though the specifics of their first encounter remain a mystery, Tatler magazine suggests that their friendship blossomed thanks to fashion designer Misha Nonoo. Born in Bahrain, Misha played matchmaker, introducing Meghan and Eugenie. At the time, Misha was married to Alexander Wilkes, a friend of Prince Harry from his Eton days, and had been connected to the York sisters since 2012. Her bond with Meghan strengthened after they met at the Miami event.

Meghan confirmed during her candid interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 that she had become acquainted with Eugenie, who is now 35, before ever meeting Prince Harry.

However, in a twist of royal misidentification, Prince Harry later disclosed that during Meghan’s initial visit to Royal Lodge, she mistakenly identified Eugenie’s father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as an assistant to the late Queen. This anecdote adds a humorous note to Meghan’s early days with the royal family.

Two years later, however, Prince Harry revealed Meghan mistook Eugenie’s disgraced father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for the ‘late Queen’s assistant’ during their first meeting at Royal Lodge.

Despite the misstep, Meghan and Harry remained close with Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, with Andrew’s younger daughter becoming the first royal to visit the Sussexes at their new home in Montecito, California, after they stepped down from their duties.

Their friendship will likely be tested in the wake of Andrew’s unprecedented arrest, as a royal expert previously suggested Meghan will want to ‘distance’ herself from the scandal surrounding the former prince’s ties to paedophile Epstein.

Fashion designer Misha, 41, is believed to have introduced Meghan and Eugenie, as Tatler reported both the York sisters attended her 2012 wedding to her now ex-husband, Alexander Gilkes, who went to Eton with Harry.

Meghan and Misha’s paths first crossed in December 2014 at Art Basel, an exclusive event held at Soho Beach House in Miami. Meghan was dating Cory Vitiello, a chef from Toronto, and the pair were invited to Art Basel by the actress’s friend, Markus Anderson, who is the membership director of Soho House.

Detailing Meghan’s first meeting with Misha, royal biographer Andrew Morton said they hit it off immediately.

Mr Morton writes: ‘Markus Anderson is a great fixer and mixer. He has an instinct for putting strangers together who he thinks might gel.

‘At lunch, he placed Meghan next to Bahrain-born fashion designer Misha Nonoo. At the time, she was an up-and-coming designer known as much for her marriage to art dealer Alexander Gilkes, friend of Princes William and Harry, as for her maverick designs.

‘Meghan and Misha got along famously, lunchtime drinks extending into evening cocktails.

‘During the course of the afternoon, they got talking about her new collection, which was going to be unveiled at New York Fashion Week. Meghan would be on break from Suits. She would be there.’

While it is unclear when Meghan and Eugenie first met, the younger York sister was also pictured in Miami for the art fair that year.

Prince Harry started dating Meghan in 2016 after they were set up by his childhood friend, Violet Von Westenholz.

Eugenie was the first member of the Royal Family who met Meghan after she started dating Prince Harry, who wrote they hugged ‘as if they were sisters’ in his memoir Spare. 

Recalling the meeting, Harry explained he and Meghan invited Eugenie and her now-husband, Jack Brooksbank, for dinner at Nottingham Cottage, as the Duke revealed they ‘devoured her stories’ about Suits and ‘her travels’. 

‘I remember Euge hugging Meg, as they were sisters,’ he said, as Harry declared the night a success. ‘I remember thinking: If meeting the rest of my family goes like this, we’re home free.’

Despite their friendship, Meghan did not recognise Eugenie’s father, the disgraced former Prince Andrew, when they first met at Royal Lodge in October 2016.

Harry explained that he wanted to introduce his then-girlfriend to his family gradually, and meeting Sarah Ferguson felt like a ‘logical baby step’ because ‘Meg already knew already knew Fergie’s daughter Euge, and Jack’.

‘But as we neared Royal Lodge, I got word on my phone,’ he continued. ‘Granny was there.’

Panicking, Harry asked Meghan if she knew how to curtsy before the ex-Duchess of York gave her a quick lesson in the driveway of Andrew and Fergie’s former home.

He wrote how Eugenie and Jack ‘almost seemed to pretend not to know Meg’ as they gave her a ‘quick kiss on the cheek’ – a far cry from their tequila-fuelled night at Nottingham Cottage weeks earlier.

 A friend of Fergie’s was also present for Meghan’s first meeting with the Queen in what Harry described as ‘one of the most consequential moments of my life’.

After 20 minutes, Andrew – who was living at Royal Lodge at the time – escorted Queen Elizabeth out to her car before Harry realised Meghan had mistaken his errant uncle for ‘the Queen’s assistant’.

‘She definitely hadn’t Googled us,’ Harry wrote.

Years later, Meghan would confirm she knew Princess Eugenie ‘before I had known Harry’ during her interview with Oprah after the Sussexes left the royal family and relocated to Montecito, California. 

‘Eugenie and I had known each other before I had known Harry, so that was comfortable. We’re friends with them as a couple,’ she added, referring to her marketing executive husband, Jack. 

Outside the confines of Windsor, Eugenie and Jack frequently joined Harry and Meghan on double dates.

They also visited Toronto, Canada, to see the pair after the Prince had travelled to be with Meghan during her time filming legal drama Suits.

Speaking to broadcaster Ellen DeGeneres in a surprise talk show interview in November 2021, Meghan said she and Harry wanted to have ‘one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple’.

She explained how they ‘snuck out in Halloween costumes’ for a night out before news of their relationship broke.

Speaking about the event in 2016, she told Ellen: ‘He came to see me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin Eugenie and now her husband Jack, they came as well, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple.

‘It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we had all this very bizarre costuming on, and we were able to just have one fun final night out.’

Harry and Meghan shared previously unseen snaps from the party during their Netflix docuseries, which was released in December 202 

In one photo, Meghan and Harry can be seen crowding in for a photograph with Eugenie and Jack, as well as Soho House executive Markus. 

Harry was dressed in a gas mask, while Meghan also pulled her hat low over her face. The Duchess donned a crop top for the occasion, which she paired with dark jean shorts.

Both she and Eugenie ringed their eyes in dark eyeliner for the outing, while Harry pulled a skeleton mask across his face. The couple said they ‘wanted to pull the pin on the fun grenade.’

Meghan said: ‘His cousin Eugenie, her boyfriend Jack and my friend Markus were there too. It was so great, just silly fun.

The documentary also revealed that Princess Eugenie has spent time with her cousin Harry and his son Archie during a trip to Los Angeles after Megxit. 

She was pictured attending the Super Bowl with Harry in February 2022, as well as playing with her nephew on a beach in California. 

Eugenie was the first member of the Royal Family to visit the Duke of Sussex in California, two years after he quit senior duties.

A source told MailOnline at the time: ‘Harry and Eugenie have always been close ever since they were children. He always makes her laugh. They share a sense of humour.

‘She is friends with Meghan too, and was close to his two previous girlfriends Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas. It was Eugenie who helped set up Harry and Cressida. She refuses to abandon him. She is a very loyal lady. She is not one for taking sides.’

In 2021, Princess Eugenie shared a 40th birthday tribute to her ‘dear Meghan’ in a gushing Instagram post.

It wasn’t the first time Eugenie had referred to the Duchess using such a sweet term of endearment; in June 2021 she shared a sweet message of congratulations to her ‘dear cousins’ on the birth of their daughter Lilibet.

However, the scandal surrounding Andrew – who was arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office – could drive the group apart.

A royal expert previously said Meghan could be keen to ‘distance’ herself from Eugenie and her older sister Beatrice amid heightened scrutiny into their parents’ ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Royal journalist Duncan Larcombe told The Mirror: ‘Harry has always been close to Beatrice and Eugenie,’ Mr Larcombe told the newspaper.

‘They didn’t see a massive amount of each other growing up because they didn’t live very close to each other, but they’d always get together for Christmas at Sandringham.’

Mr Larcombe said that while Harry’s relationship with Beatrice and Eugenie – who was pictured on a skiing holiday with her family as Andrew was arrested – might make him more inclined to look out for his cousins, Meghan, 44, will be more concerned about the optics of any ongoing association with the family.

Noting that Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Harvey Weinstein were all photographed together at Beatrice’s 18th birthday, Meghan is likely to ‘keep her distance’ from them.

However, Harry and Meghan are probably united on the decision to steer clear of Andrew and Sarah – even if it’s for different reasons.

‘From Meghan’s point of view, it’s probably a commercial thing, from Harry’s point of view, it’s probably more of an emotional thing.’

Andrew was stripped of his royal titles last year and is currently being investigated for misconduct in public office over allegations he exploited his role as UK trade envoy to leak confidential information to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

His dramatic downfall, capped by his sensational arrest last week, will see the disgraced royal retreat to his new home on the Sandringham Estate with nothing more than a chef and a lone valet.

He has previously denied any wrongdoing over his friendship with Epstein.