Meghan Markle has given an insight into the early days of her dates with Prince Harry as she appeared in the second season of her Netflix show – and revealed who said ‘I love you’ first.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, was joined by celebrity friends including Chrissy Teigen, Daniel Martin and José Andrés for the new series of With Love, Meghan, which was released on the streaming giant early this morning.
Following the first season of her show, which was widely panned by critics, Meghan has returned once more to share her lifestyle and cookery tips and tricks, filmed in a rented house near her Californian mansion for privacy reasons.
During the new episodes, which form part of the Sussexes’s downgraded Netflix deal, the mother-of-two also gave a glimpse into her family life with children Archie and Lilibet in Montecito, and into her relationship with the Duke of Sussex.
Eagerly recalling their love story, Meghan revealed that it was indeed Harry, 40, who uttered the three special words – ‘I love you’ – first, shortly after they began dating in 2016.
As for Meghan herself, she confessed she knew Harry was a keeper on just their third date – a week-long safari trip to Botswana.
In the third episode, Meghan was joined by Queer Eye presenter Tan France to make apple pies and vegetable stamps. He also asked her if there was a specific moment she knew ‘I love this guy’.
Meghan said: ‘Yes, that was on our third date,’ before France gushed: ‘You fell in love on your first date?’
‘We met in Botswana and we camped for five days together,’ the Duchess recalled. ‘You really get to know each other when you’re in a little tent together and it’s like – what is that outside the tent?’
Meghan Markle has revealed who said ‘I love you’ first when she met Prince Harry (pictured in season two of With Love, Meghan)
Harry took Meghan away on a romantic trip to Botswana where the pair camped under the stars for their third date
‘That’s an elephant. Are we going to be safe? Yeah, you’re safe. OK.’
France then asked who said the ‘L word’ first – and the Duchess once more reminisced about their early days together.
‘He told me,’ Meghan confessed. And when France noted, ‘Oh that’s nice. You’re starting to blush, I’ll stop this line of questioning!’, Meghan flicked her ponytail and joked: ‘She’s still got it.’
Elsewhere during the eight-episode season, the Duchess gave a sweet insight into Prince Harry’s 40th birthday, which took place in September last year.
The prince had spent his birthday weekend attending a charity tennis tournament in honour of Meghan’s close friend, Kelly McKee Zajfen and her late son, George.
And going the extra mile for his landmark birthday, Meghan revealed she made friends and family caps that read ‘PH40’ to wear at his party.
The Duchess has frequently opened up about her relationship with the British royal over the years – such as during her appearance on her friend Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast in April.
Meghan said she’s now more in love than ever with her husband – at the same time as she appeared to give a subtle dig at the royal family.
Meghan recalled how she and Harry camped for five days in a tent in Botswana
In the third episode, Meghan was joined by Queer Eye presenter Tan France – making apple pies and painted aprons
As well as sharing cookery tips, Meghan gave a glimpse into her relationship with the Duke of Sussex (pictured in season one)
Meghan in the new trailer for the second season of her lifestyle and cooking show
Meghan, pictured with her husband during the Invictus Games earlier this year, said it was Harry who said I love you first – and she realised he was a keeper on their third date
‘You have to imagine, at the beginning it’s all butterflies – but then we immediately went into the trenches together,’ she said.
‘Right out of the gate, like six months into dating. So now seven years later, when you have a little bit of breathing space, you can just enjoy each other in a new way. And that’s why I feel like it’s more of a honeymoon period for us now.’
Meghan also spoke of how she and Harry will be married ‘forever’ and called her husband a ‘fox’ – because of how ‘very very handsome’ he is, although his ‘heart is even more beautiful’.
During the first episode of their Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan, released in 2022, the couple claimed that they first connected on Instagram.
‘I was scrolling through my feed and one of my friends and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, like a Snapchat,’ Harry said. ‘I was like, ‘Who is that?’
Meghan said that their mutual friend Violet von Westenholz told her that ‘Prince Haz’ had asked about her, suggesting that she meet up with Harry. The next day they exchanged numbers.
The pair began texting and eventually set up a first date at Soho House at 76 Dean Street while Meghan was in the city to watch the Wimbledon tournament.
In what might have been the end of their romance before it began, Harry arrived late.
‘You were late,’ Meghan told Harry, adding, ‘and I didn’t know him. So I was like, ‘Oh, is this what he does?”
Things picked up after that, however and, although they lived thousands of miles apart, the two agreed to see each other every few weeks.
For their third date, which Meghan referenced in this morning’s new episodes of her cooking show, Harry took Meghan away on a romantic trip to Botswana where the pair camped under the stars.
‘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.’
Prince Harry and Meghan at the ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in July 2024
Prince Harry later said it was during this trip that he knew Meghan was his ‘soulmate’ – and now Meghan seems to have agreed that this marked the turning point for them as a couple.
On November 8, 2016, Kensington Palace released a statement confirming Harry and Meghan’s relationship and, in May 2017, they attended their first public outing together at a polo match in honour of his former charity, Sentebale.
Meghan spoke openly about her relationship with Harry for the first time in an interview with Vanity Fair for the October 2017 issue.
‘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,’ she said.
‘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,’ Meghan added.
‘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, Harry and Meghan made their official debut as a couple at the royal’s Invictus Games in Toronto, the actress’s home turf.
Going from strength to strength, in November 2017, the couple announced their engagement, before tying the knot in May 2018.
Netflix said Harry & Meghan, which came out in 2022, was a huge success with a total of 23.4million views, making it the most viewed documentary ever through its first four days
Prince Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017
The Palace said in a statement at the time, ‘His Royal Highness and Ms. Markle became engaged in London earlier this month.
‘Prince Harry has informed Her Majesty The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince Harry has also sought and received the blessing of Ms. Markle’s parents.’
Since returning to Instagram in January this year, Meghan has been more vocal about her relationship with Harry than ever.
For Valentine’s Day, Meghan shared a black-and-white photograph kissing her husband after they attended the Invictus Games together.
‘Back home taking care of our babies, and missing my Valentine, as he continues on at the Invictus Games, changing lives and reminding all of us of the power of healing and resilience through these incredible veterans and their families,’ Meghan said at the time.
She added: ‘Beyond proud of my husband and what he’s created. My love, I will eat burgers & fries and fish & chips with you forever. Thank you for you. As ever, M.’
To mark their seven-year anniversary in May, Meghan shared a picture of her mood board, featuring snippets of them throughout their relationship, with a handwritten note reading: ‘Our love story’.
She said: ‘Seven years of marriage. A lifetime of stories.
Since returning to Instagram in January this year, Meghan has been more vocal about her relationship with Harry than ever. Pictured: Meghan’s Valentine’s Day post
‘Thanks to all of you (whether by our side, or from afar) who have loved and supported us throughout our love story – we appreciate you. Happy anniversary!’
And when she celebrated her 44th birthday earlier this month, Meghan made sure to thank ‘my husband’ for ‘making it so special’.
In a trailer for With Love, Meghan released earlier this month, the mother-of-two said that the second series would be filled with ‘moments of discovery and beauty’, encouraging viewers: ‘Let’s be curious together’.
In the one-minute, 27-second teaser, Meghan is seen eating cheese, prepping snacks and drinks with friends and even reveals the food her husband Harry doesn’t like.
‘Do you know who doesn’t like lobster? My husband,’ she says as she prepares the seafood.
As the trailer comes to an end, Meghan reveals: ‘I love these moments of discovery and beauty. So let’s be curious together.’
In March, Meghan also launched her lifestyle brand As ever, selling jams and flower sprinkles seen on her show.
With Love, Meghan was renewed for a second season just as season one was released in March. All the episodes were filmed at the same time, it is understood.
The first season of Meghan’s lifestyle show failed to break into Netflix’s top 300 programmes for the first half of 2025 and was even thrashed by multiple seasons of Suits. The numbers watching were ‘dismal’, an insider at the streamer reportedly said.
The first series showed the former Suits star, 44, inviting friends and famous guests to a California estate, where she shared cooking, gardening and hosting tips.
But it was panned by many reviewers who called it ‘sensationally absurd and trite’ with the Duchess of Sussex called ‘tone-deaf’ and punting a show that ‘vibrates with vacuous joylessness’.
The Netflix series With Love, Meghan is the most recent television release by the Sussexes. Pictured: Meghan and her friends in season one
It has an IMDB rating of 3.2 out of 10 and a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicates that the TV show is considered ‘rotten’.
Meghan was also lampooned for putting pretzels from the packet into a plastic bag, chiding one guest for using Markle as her surname instead of Sussex and one viewer threatened to sue claiming her recipe for homemade bath salts burned her skin.
Experts have claimed that the Sussexes’ new Netflix deal is a ‘downgrade’ on their previous $100million five-year tie-up and more ‘we’ll call you’ than ‘here’s the chequebook’.
The couple signed a new ‘multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects’ with the streaming giant – understood to be worth less for the pair than their previous contract.
The ‘first-look’ arrangement means Netflix can say yes or no to new film or television projects before anyone else – allowing them to pick and choose what they invest in.
PR expert Mark Borkowski described the new deal as a ‘downgrade’, claiming it falls a long way from the jackpot figure of Harry and Meghan’s original contract in 2020.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I think Netflix has done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver, and they’ve taken that deal off the table, and they’ve given them a modest one.
‘It’s not like they’re gradually uncoupling – it’s a downgrade. Netflix are not going to expose themselves to those budgets again. It’s Netflix saying, ‘Let’s have a look at your content, but we’ll pick and choose, mate’.’
