As Prince Harry famously said in his engagement interview, the stars aligned when he and Meghan Markle met. 

As the Sussexes celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary, traditionally marked by wool, there was a time before their whirlwind romance when Meghan was not interested in dating a prince.

In Andrew Morton’s bestselling biography of Meghan Markle, he claimed that when asked during a TV quiz to choose between William and Harry, she appeared ‘nonplussed’.

‘The presenter had to encourage her to choose the prince who was still single,’ he wrote. 

But in July 2016 the Suits actress was in London to promote the new season of the show and was sent on a ‘blind’ date with the prince.

In Morton’s Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, he wrote: ‘The scene was set and Cupid’s arrow was aquiver.’

The two were keen to keep things under wraps so their date took place at a private room at the exclusive Soho House where Meghan’s friend Markus Anderson was brand ambassador. 

‘Not that Meghan had much of an opinion about the man she was about to meet,’ Morton wrote.

Harry had just returned from France to commemorate the Battle of the Somme and was, understandably, in sombre spirits. 

Before the date Meghan had asked her friends if the prince was ‘kind and nice’, according to the royal author.

‘The answer lay in his blue eyes. As they say in movies, they had each other at “hello”,’ Morton wrote. 

According to the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, Harry was late to their date at 76 Dean Street.

Meghan said: ‘I didn’t know him. So I was like, “Oh, is this what he does?”‘

But the two were ‘mesmerised by each other’, according to Morton, with Harry ‘enthralled by her beauty, sophistication and perceptiveness’. 

He added: ‘She understood him as a man, not a title.

‘In that subtle one-upmanship of a first date he realised that while his grandmother might be the Queen, Meghan had given a speech at a United Nations forum.

‘As he subsequently confessed, he realised that he would have to up his game.’ 

Harry said at the time: ‘I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly – it was a confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned.’

The couple had two dates before Meghan had to fly back to Toronto on July 5.

‘The normally self-contained actress was smitten,’ wrote Morton, and the Hollywood actress even shared multiple not-so-cryptic clues of her budding romance on her Instagram. 

And for their third date Harry took Meghan away on a romantic trip to Botswana.

‘It was three, maybe four, weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come join me in Botswana, and we camped out with each other under the stars,’ Harry explained during their engagement interview.

‘She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic. 

‘Then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other.’

Harry later said it was during this trip that he knew Meghan was his ‘soulmate’.

Rumours had been circulating for around a month when, on November 8, Kensington Palace released a statement confirming Harry and Meghan’s relationship.

In a rare turn of events, Harry also issued a lengthy appeal to the media claiming that Meghan had been at the receiving end of harassment, as well as ‘sexism and racism’.

He acknowledged that there was ‘significant curiosity about his private life’ but appealed to people to respect Meghan’s privacy.

‘Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her,’ the note read. 

‘It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm.’ 

The couple later returned to Botswana for a three-week trip to Africa to celebrate Meghan’s 36th birthday in August 2017.

The trip included some time in the Meno a Kwena camp in Botswana where they camped out together following their first few dates.

A source at the time said: ‘Harry has been planning this holiday for a long time. He’s made the trip incredibly romantic. 

‘They’ll go on boats across the lake, walk in the bush at dawn and camp under the stars.’

In September 2017 Meghan spoke openly about her relationship with the prince for the first time in an interview with Vanity Fair.

She said: ‘I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple. 

‘We’re two people who are really happy and in love.

‘We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people’s perception. 

‘Nothing about me changed. I’m still the same person that I am, and I’ve never defined myself by my relationship.’

‘I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. 

‘This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. 

‘But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story.’

Later that month the couple made their official debut at the Invictus Games in Toronto where Harry was seen giving her a peck on the cheek.

Then came tea with the Queen in which Harry had to ask Meghan if she knew how to curtsy. 

The meeting in October was said to have been about an hour long and Meghan and Harry were escorted to the Royal Lodge in Windsor in station wagons with blacked-out windows.

In the docuseries, Meghan said: ‘There wasn’t like some big moment of, now you’re going to meet my grandmother. 

‘I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before.’

The couple had dating for just a year when Harry proposed during a quiet night at home over a chicken dinner.

‘It was just so sweet and natural and very romantic,’ Meghan said.

The engagement ring was made with a diamond from Botswana, where they had fallen in love, with two outer diamonds from his late mother Princess Diana’s collection. 

In the Sussexes’ seven years of marriage they have made headlines after stepping down as senior royals, moving to the US and criticising the Royal Family in multiple high-profile interviews.

But for the couple one constant has been their love for each other, with their African safari cementing their bond.