Back when Sex and the City was just a great TV show and not some epic girl-drama about those terrible movies, the writers would occasionally hit upon something brilliant. One of those moments of brilliance: the idea that many men are like taxis about marriage, and that they go along for years with their “lights off” and then suddenly, one day, they flip the switch and they’re ready for marriage and they marry the first woman available. Was Prince Harry like that? I think he was. I think he decided, several years back, that he was ready for marriage. And he set about trying to find a woman who would be willing to take him on. That’s sort of what People Magazine’s cover story is about: how Harry had long been desperate to marry and all of his friends were married and Meghan was the first one who seemed keen.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to tie the knot in just a few weeks. And while their romance has been a whirlwind, Harry’s search for the missing piece — an equal partner with whom he could share his life and passions — has been years in the making. After nearly losing himself following the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, Harry earned a reputation as a royal rebel, partying too hard and making tabloid headlines for bad behavior, including an infamous game of strip billiards in Vegas. He went on to find purpose and discipline in the British Army, and became ready for the next phase of his life.
“Harry’s drinking days are over,”a source tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “All of his best friends have settled and had children, so he’s had fewer people to go out and play with. He realized he was getting a bit older and that it was time to settle down a little bit.”
Adds Duncan Larcombe, a former royals reporter who traveled with Prince Harry throughout much of the early 2000s and is the author of the new biography Prince Harry: The Inside Story: “He desperately wanted to get married and be happy. He sees his brother [Prince William] has found that. The fact that Meghan arrived when she did completes it for Harry.”
Today, Harry “is able to talk about how troubled he was and how he sought counseling—in no small way, I imagine that’s Meghan’s influence on him,” says Larcombe. “His antics over the years mean that everyone can identify with him. He is a reluctant royal because he is a prince of the people. The public feel a connection with Harry for all those reasons that they probably don’t feel for any other member of the royal family.”
In Meghan, he has found a trusted copilot with whom to move the monarchy forward. “Meghan is going to be a force,” says a palace source. “She will help him really define his role and relate to the public in a way that he wouldn’t have been able to do before. It was worth the wait.”
To be completely fair, I’m not suggesting that Harry and Meghan are ONLY getting married because she was the first woman to say “yes.” But I am saying that his light was on for a few years and he was ready to settle down before he even met her, and of course that factored into their speedy courtship and engagement. HE was the one who wanted to lock this down in a hurry, not Meghan. Harry was the one rushing this because he was so ready.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN and PCN. Cover courtesy of People.
obviously he was, or else he wouldn’t be willing to settle down with her. rarely does one person come along and change someone’s views on that on their own. it’s about the right person at the right time.
Yeah because it’s impossible that she would want to marry a prince. That would NEVER EVER happen.
This wedding wouldn’t be happening if he didn’t want it to happen. Sorry to bust your crazy tumblr bubble.
This is what I think would NEVER NEVER happen, N’hole: Marrying a “prince” if he didn’t want to get married.
@Needlehole what are you even RESPONDING to in that comment? Nothing you’ve said is relevant to that comment. The comment is all about HARRY and here you are chiming in with the same unnecessary crap you’re commenting on every Meghan thread. you’ve lost all reading comprehension in pursuit of your pointless goal of… getting Harry to dump Meghan? hahahahahhaha FOH.
Timing is everything. My husband and I would have most likely never worked out, if we had met even a year earlier. I think it’s pretty common.
My husband and I got married fairly quickly, and 6 years later, still good! I am so over the narrative that “harry just wanted to get married, already & Meghan wants to be Diana 2.0” Why all the false motives?
Can’t they just be in love & thats that?
I know, for gossip purposes that would be entirely no fun!
Sequinheart, I agree. I’m positive he could have found somebody to marry him. I think he fell very hard for Meghan, but he was open and ready for it, which can make all the difference. I married my husband quickly too. Actually, I moved across the country and moved in with him after knowing him for 1 month! 12 years later, and we’re still good. Sometimes, when you know, you know!
You’re absolutely right. I reunited with Mr. Jaded after 35 years (he actually dumped me for someone else in 1979, married her and had a long but pretty awful marriage). It took us one date after he contacted me in 2015 (he was divorced by then) and it was on again, apologies made and all was forgiven. I too moved across country to be with him and three years later we’re happier than a couple of pigs in sh*t. So yes, timing is everything. I doubt we’d still be together if we’d have married back then, we both had a lot of growing up to do. People thought I was nuts to get back together with him but if it’s right it’s right, and I do think Harry and Meghan will have a wonderful marriage.
That is a beautiful story, Jaded. It’s never too late to start living your best life!
Well he’s a prince. And btw men still decide when it’s time. Cos they propose.
I do know some guys who married cos they wanted to at that exact time. I do think there’s some green light. Was Harry one of them? Only Harry knows. Maybe. He doesn’t strike me as a mature person, but I don’t know the guy and he has great chemistry with Meghan.
I love them together. So in love these two.
Sigh just love them.
That’s not a big leap. He left the army and took up royal duties, and watching him and Meghan you can see that he clearly enjoys having a partner for his public life.
They’re in love.
But yeah, timing is everything.
In other non surprising news, water is wet. I’m sure they’re very happy but he could have been very happy with any beautiful woman, at least for awhile. That episode of SATC was spot on and Harry’s light was on for the last couple of years.
I can see this. However, I think they were both eager to be where they wanted to be, she is gorgeous and that doesn’t hurt. I have a ginger teenager with green eyes and he shines so bright, I can see why she is attracted to Harry, for sure, and the royalty doesn’t hurt her at all. I truly believe, like most of us, she followed stories of those two boys growing up.
Keeks, I’ve crushed on so many gingers, and the love of my life is a ginger. (So is my my pup, but in this context I mean the man I fell in love with).
SaTC had a few good gems..but I really loathed Carrie. In one episode she actually brags that she doesn’t follow news or vote. I hated that my twentysomething (at that time) friends were enamoured of a character so vapid and materialistic.
I also think it’s insulting to men to treat them like such simplistic creatures. But yeah Harry was in his early 30s and had never really been in a relationship likely to result in marriage. Meghan was once divorced and under no global pressure to marry. No doubt Harry was the one to push for a short engagement.
Meghan was such an out of the blue girlfriend and their romance so fast with both of the in their 30s, I also had a feeling it was mostly that he was just ready. I only learned about Markle on this site and if you go back, her first mention is with relation to him. I don’t necessarily think she is not special or their love isn’t genuine but I believe that they had a common goal. He to settle down with someone who can do the work of the royal, she – to pursue her humanitarian interests while wearing high fashion.
And another thing – Meghan is a smart cookie. If you watch them together in their engagement interview, Meghan acts and says all the right things a woman does, when she wants her man to feel special. Men aren’t that deep. More so, she says and does all the right things that make her perfect for the job in his eyes, you know, enthusiastic, outgoing, dreams of changing the world, bla bla… I can guess how their first convo went: “I don’t care about material things. I believe I can change the world and eliminate world hunger!” “Me too! Let’s fly to France via coach!”
Obviously, they have chemistry but I think she definitely played her cards right. Cudos to her.
“Harry and Meghan are ONLY getting married because she was the first woman to say “yes.”“
Actually that’s exactly what I think. No one else wanted this life. Neither one of his great loves the two Cs wanted to be apart of his lifestyle.
He’s no different from a lot of guys who feel like because they’re a certain age or because all their buddies have they should be settling down.
I mean, he’s pretty explicitly indicated that it was important to him to find a spouse who would be comfortable with the public aspects of the position, but I don’t really see how that contradicts the idea that they are also deeply in love. Seems like a standard grown-up relationship, not a star-crossed lovers fantasy.
Dally,
ITA. I think they’re two people who have spent a lot of time figuring out what they’re looking for and knew it when they saw it. People fall in hot passionate love all the time and ten years later realize they’ve changed and want something different. That’s not what’s happening here, and I think these two have a real chance for a lifelong partnership and a passion based on shared values.
People just find it so hard to believe/accept that he could have truly fell head over heels in love with this biracial, American, d-list actress, older, divorcee (their “descriptions of her, not mine)that they will do anything to spin and invalidate their love/relationship. Yes, timing is very important in life. But nothing changes your plans faster then finding true love. I’m sure he was ready for marriage, as are the vast majority of people in their 30’s; But they are saying this as an insult to yet again devalue Megan. ie. ” Don’t think you’re special sweetie! He’s only marrying you because he was ready to be married. And don’t forget, you’re only in this position because nobody else wanted the job! ” People are so bitter.
YES! someone with eyes to see. 100% agree! It’s pathetic. Also, if the worst they can come up with is her leaving her ex (who deliberately kept her below him & did not adequately support her acting career. Most insecure men are like that) & sending rings through the mail (which is what I’d do if I really was done & felt controlled. Maybe she needed a clean break, demanding job, etc. People grow & who else knows what else may have gone wrong? She can leave. It’s her decision if she isn’t in love anymore. Then what else can she do apart from make new friends in a new city?) is the worst that can be said, this girl’s a true peach. Can’t even find old boyfriends in her 36 yrs apart from 2 other men she was ‘linked’ to.
All of this! Meghan is the one Harry wanted! I have no doubt in my mind that Harry had his pick of women that would have sold a kidney to be with him and to live the life of a princess. He could have done this with anybody any time but he is doing it now with her. You can see the chemistry with these two…it just jumps out of the photo.
In that top picture doesn’t Meghan look like Pippa?
no. Meghan is a biracial American woman with lovely more olive-toned skin, she doesn’t look like Pippa, a white English woman who has clearly spent too many years in the sun and is still often orange toned.
unless you hold the photo several feet away and blur your eyes, then yes, they look alike as they are both women with long dark hair. but they have different smiles, different lips, different noses, different foreheads, etc. look at this photo comparison, which for some reason is being used to illustrate their similarities, even though it only highlights their differences: https://us.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/healthandbeauty/2017120444502/pippa-middleton-meghan-markle-beauty-fashion-similarities/0-225-379/meghan-markle-pippa-middleton-t.jpg
Pippa: very (fake) tan, more of a round face, smaller upper lip, less arched eyebrows, rounder eyes, rounder cheeks, lower cheekbones, larger forehead.
@olive, people don’t have to have the same skin color or be from the same country to look alike. I see a resemblance, but maybe it’s because I haven’t studied every bone, hair, and shape of every inch of their faces like you have. Jeez. They’re both pretty women who look a little alike
@Beth lol “studied”? hardly. it took me a couple minutes to look at the photos and write that comment.
i think pippa’s cute, maybe pretty. not beautiful though. i just don’t find sun-damaged skin like hers attractive at all. it’s severely aging on a person.
@Olive, Meghan’s skin is pretty damaged too.
Honestly, I don’t get why people need to pull others down to bolster Meghan. She’s good enough as she is.
Meghan doesn’t have olive toned skin… She’s actually quite pale when the bronzer/makeup isn’t in use. And yes, there is a resemblance to Pippa. All 3 of them could be mistaken for sisters, tbh. It’s not just the brunette hair.
In some pics she does strongly resemble Pippa, in others not at all. Would be fun to see them together and interacting… same light, no filters etc.
I see the resemblance too. They aren’t going to have the exact same features because they aren’t related, but there are similarities.
It just struck me in that top pic with the checked coat. In the other pictures, not at all. Pippa was papped a couple of weeks ago with a similar coat so that’s when I saw it. And@Beth, I agree, you don’t have to be the same race to have a resemblance.
I wanted to like her, but she strikes me as a little fake and actress-y. For a woman approaching 40 on her second marriage, I find her doe-eyed schtick tiresome. That said, I hope she’ll settle down in time, and I do think they’ll make adorable babies.
He is smitten. Bottom line. Just because his two aristocratic girlfriends didn’t want the life doesn’t mean there aren’t millions of women up for it.
I was watching a bunch of interviews with Harry over in Afghanistan recently…and I MARVELED at how much he had grown and how PRECARIOUS it was over there for him…and there was a time when I wanted him to get “douchebro” tattooed on his very fine keister! He kind of reminds me of me when I looked for “the One”…I went through relationships…factoring in what I wanted versus what I needed and when I saw what I needed AND wanted…it didn’t take ANYTIME to lock that down toot sweet! Once I got in my 30s…it became easier to understand and carry out!
He wanted to marry Chelsy but she supposedly wasn’t about that life. He tried hard with Cressida but she wasn’t into it. She said he wasn’t well read. Lol.
Harry was searching for someone to do the job with him and he found that person in Meghan. So, yes he found her at the right time. I don’t buy the grand love story though…
I thought he broke up with Cressida. There were some pics of her looking sad and that whole story about her not being able to afford planes tickets to America for his friend’s wedding?
Of course, it’s very difficult for some people to buy the grand love story of a 33 yr-old ginger prince and a 36 yr-old bi-racial divorced actress,
These stories are usually only supposed to happen to trust fund blondes – but there you go.
I never believed the Cressida not affording plane tickets story lol. They don’t cost an arm an a leg!
I don’t buy the grand love story either but then I don’t see Harry (or any member of that family) as much of a prize.
But hey, if he and that life is what Meghan wants, so be it. She seems (to date) like she’ll adapt to it reasonably well but I still think he’s getting the better part of the deal.
You can still see the news online that Cressida really was on board with marrying and that Kate was advising her on the transition to royal life. I think Harry was the one who did not follow through. I don’t know if he really wanted an upper class Brit, he does not strike me as wanting the cookie cutter royal life whatsoever. A gorgeous mature woman who has already chosen humanitarian causes in Africa and is media savvy seems to fit much better. In so many ways she is the complete opposite of his sister in law (and her ilk) and vive la difference!
Cressida said he wasn’t well read? Lol! I wonder how much she has read.
Personally I don’t think either Chelsy or Cressida were suitable but I do believe if he had persisted with either of them they would have said yes. Harry gets what he wants.
I think he’s madly in love with Meghan. It’s obvious. But timing is everything. It’s meeting the right person at the right time. Harry in his mid to late 20s meeting Meghan wouldn’t have been the same at all. He wasn’t great husband material at that age. He’s matured a lot since then.
My late husband definitely had flipped his ready switch. He tried to date me when I was otherwise engaged, then asked me again 3-4 years later. I was reluctant, but on some deeper level was wiser than my superficial self and agreed. I’d just turned 40, never married; he was six years older and divorced, but knew he wanted and would only be happy in a committed relationship. In three months, we were engaged. In nine, we were married. Twenty-four years ago, April 2. Every day of the 20 years we had together before he died were the best of my life.
My deepest sympathy for your loss C-Shell. Your story is lovely. That was my parents, too. They met, fell in love, and w/in a year they were married. They were married just short of 35 years when my mom died. She was the love of his life. He was 25 when they married, 57 when she passed, 90 now. And she is *still* the love of his life.