Before tying the knot with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle was known for keeping her personal affairs under wraps. She was so private that during her first wedding to Trevor Engelson, she reportedly imposed a social media blackout.

After her 2014 split from the producer, whispers of a budding relationship between Meghan and Rory McIlroy started to intrigue her followers.

Meghan and Rory, who is a strong contender for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year tonight, initially met when the accomplished golfer, fresh off his 27th PGA win, challenged her to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge 11 years ago.

A video capturing Rory, newly single after ending his engagement with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, dousing Meghan with icy water fueled the rumors surrounding their connection.

In a post on her now-defunct blog, Meghan praised Rory, describing him as the “real deal” and lauding him as a “force” in the world of sports.

At one point, the speculation about a romance between the then 33-year-old Meghan and 25-year-old Rory was so rampant that it is said Meghan’s previous boyfriend felt compelled to confront her over the rumors.

Royal author Tom Bower claimed celebrity chef Cory Vitiello, who was dating Meghan at the time, ‘angrily’ asked the former Suits actress if there ‘had been an affair’ after it was reported that she and Rory had met for dinner in Dublin.

Writing in his book Revenge, Mr Bower said: ‘Emphatically, Meghan denied she had betrayed Cory. She and McIlroy were just friends, she said.’ 

Rory Mcllroy (left), tipped to win tonight’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, was previously friends with Meghan Markle (right). The pair first crossed paths in the summer of 2014

According to Mr Bower, their friendship began after Meghan accepted Rory’s nomination for the Ice Bucket Challenge on the condition that he come to her friend’s New York City apartment and pour the ice water over her head himself. 

They filmed the challenge, which was devised to raise awareness about the neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Meghan uploaded the clip to her Vimeo account. 

It showed the golfer, standing on a step ladder, pouring freezing water over her head to raise money for various ALS organisations, including the ALS Association, Les Turner ALS Foundation, and ALS Therapy Development. 

Later that evening, Rory and Meghan were spotted enjoying a drink at the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Manhattan by John Fitzpatrick, its owner. 

A self-proclaimed ‘huge fan of Suits’, the Irish hotelier also invited Meghan and Rory to a dinner at Italian restaurant Cipriani alongside 18 other friends.

The following morning, Rory made the 30-mile trip to Ringwood golf course to compete in a tournament but played poorly. 

Feeling ‘worse for wear after a hectic night’, he dropped to the 101st place and almost immediately ‘drove back to New York to see Meghan’, Mr Bower claimed. 

Reflecting on his mindset that day, Rory was said to have later confessed: ‘I wasn’t quite on my game. I was busy enjoying myself.’ 

Shortly after, Meghan praised Rory in a post on her defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, as she celebrated the sportsman as the ‘foremost golfer in the world’.  

The Northern Irishman (pictured) became the sixth man in history, and the first European, to achieve the historic golf Grand Slam after winning The Masters at Augusta National in April this year

Prior to his sporting success, it was the dashing golf star’s budding friendship with Meghan, then 33, that was of the greatest interest after Rory unexpectedly nominated the Suits actress to do the popular ice-bucket challenge

‘Ah yes. Rory Mcllroy,’ the future Duchess wrote. ‘THE Rory Mcllroy. Whispered (and shouted) to be the foremost golfer in the world, loved by Tiger, respected by Palmer, and dumper of frigid water on my lone head for the ALS Bucket Challenge. That Rory McIlroy.   

‘He is a force who has the propensity to actually work hard and play hard – relishing intense practices to substantiate his title, embracing nights of sipping Opus One (his bold and impressive choice of wine) and indulging in group dinners at Cipriani – for the balance, of course.

‘And yet, beyond his work/play ethic, the most endearing quality of this man is his character – as real and honest as they come, appreciating a simple smile, never shunning a fan photo, enjoying a plate of pasta with veal ragu, and expressing a love for his parents that is rarely seen in men his age. Or at any age, to be honest. 

‘He is not just the real deal… he is real. And perhaps that is what makes him even more cherished.’

Two months later, they would meet again in Dublin after Meghan ‘lobbied hard’ to secure an invite to the prestigious One Young World summit. 

Mr Bower suggested that Meghan, whose role in Suits had made her a bonafide star, was learning that ‘celebrity in Hollywood was enhanced by philanthropy and activism’.

Meghan was ultimately invited to the Dublin conference as a panellist and spoke about gender equality alongside tech entrepreneur and ex-Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and film director-activist Maya Sanbar among others. 

At the time, Rory, then aged 25, was newly single, having recently split from his former fiancée, Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki (right)

The event was a boost to her career but also heightened speculation she was romantically involved with Rory after they were spotted dining at an upmarket Dublin restaurant.  

Meghan looked ‘smitten’ as she ‘gazed intensely’ at Rory, while a source allegedly told Irish reporter Alexandra Ryan that they ‘sat beside each other looking very cosy and chatted all night.  

According to Mr Bower, Meghan’s friends in Ireland also ‘assumed’ that her and Rory had ‘met unseen, earlier during her visit’.

Yet there was a slight caveat to the dating rumours – Meghan had flown in from Toronto to Dublin with Mr Vitiello on a flight that ‘some would suggest was paid for by Rory’.

Once described by Meghan as her ‘very favourite chef’, she and Cory were together for two years and broke up just two months before Meghan was set up on a blind date with now-husband Prince Harry. 

However, her friendship with Rory was said to have upset Cory in the early days of their relationship. 

As Meghan’s friendship with Rory blossomed, the Suits star began a relationship with Canadian celebrity chef Cory Vitiello (left). According to royal author Tom Bower, Cory asked Meghan on two occasions whether she was having a relationship with Rory

Mr Bower revealed that Cory asked Meghan if she was ‘having a relationship’ with the golf star in the summer of 2014.  

Meghan reportedly ‘insisted their time together was innocent’ and Cory, satisfied with her assurances, ‘believed her’. 

However, reports of Meghan and Cory’s dinner in Dublin allegedly  ‘annoyed Cory’ who ‘angrily’ asked Meghan once again if there ‘had been an affair’.

Once again, Meghan ’emphatically denied that she had betrayed Cory’ and strongly insisted the pair were ‘just friends’. 

‘Once more he believed her,’ wrote Mr Bower.

The following day, Ms Ryan wrote an updated report in which she described Cory and Meghan as ‘madly in love’ and added that the pair had been ‘sewn at the hip the entire time they spent in Ireland’. 

It was met with great ‘relief’ by Meghan. 

‘The golfer was not her future,’ Mr Bower wrote. 

Since their rumoured romance, both Rory and Meghan have found love with their respective partners. 

While Meghan met her prince on a blind date in the summer of 2016 and married into the Royal Family in May 2018, Rory had begun dating Erica Stoll the year prior.

The couple, who married in April 2017, filed for divorce after seven years of marriage. However, just one month later, the couple changed their minds and announced they had reconciled their differences. 

They share a five-year-old daughter, Poppy.

Tonight, Rory is poised to make history as the first golfer ever be crowned the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year as he is being tipped to win the accolade following a year of unprecedented success.

He became the sixth man in history, and indeed the first ever European, to achieve the historic golf Grand Slam after winning The Masters at Augusta National in April, while also playing a key role in securing Europe’s Ryder Cup win in September.

A year of career-defining moments culminated in a home victory at the Irish Open, with experts citing Rory as the obvious candidate to take home the highly esteemed prize.

However, the golfer faces tough competition as he is up against numerous shortlisted candidates, including darts champ Luke Littler, F1 world title winner Lando Norris, and Lionesses Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly.