How to Date as Successfully as Meghan Markle

4 min readNov 29, 2017

Part of the thrill of watching #RoyalWedding2018 for me is the story behind the wedding. I love passing along lessons from relationship backstories!

I’ve distilled dating tips from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement interview and present them to you here.

1. Be open to people setting you up

Meghan and Harry were introduced by a mutual friend who thought they would hit it off together. Coincidentally, that’s how I met my husband too. These people know you’re both serious about finding someone, and have reason to believe you’ll hit it off, unlike dating apps.

2. Keep it quiet-it helps more than you know!

Nurture your budding relationship away from the prying public eye and social media. Meghan says they kept it to themselves the first 5–6 months which was ‘amazing’.

Here are just a few reasons why this is a good idea:

It’s less pressure on you if it doesn’t work out.
Posting about guys can get them feeling like you’re jumping the relationship gun.
Our female tendency to FutureThink actually does have us jumping the relationship gun.
Plus, folks can’t speculate on your future if they’re not privy to your present.

3. Similar values act as a bridge and a glue

The values you share can bridge the gap of your different backgrounds. They both travel around the world doing charity work, trying to make lasting change. A sense of shared mission can keep couples together over time as well.

4. Get alone time together

Ensure you have time by yourselves in order to study each other. Do you enjoy each other’s company when it’s just the two of you? Especially without the help of sex or alcohol? I think this will prove key to your longevity as a couple.

Meghan & Harry shared a tent for 5 days in Botswana ‘ in the middle of nowhere’.
You can’t hide who you really are when you’re cramped in tight quarters.

And if you start out as a long distance couple, try and see each other often. Meghan says they managed every 2 weeks. (Yes, I know, they didn’t have to worry about jacked-up airfares like us.)

5. Prioritize real life interaction over lurking

Allow people to show you who they are.
Before they met, Harry & Meghan knew little about each other and Meghan said she refused to get her information from the internet or blogs.

By learning about each other ‘authentically and organically’ and not through the internet, there were no preconcieved notions to correct and she guarded herself from a major source of dating insecurity.

6. Thinking about marriage? Understand we are all package deals

Harry knew his spouse would have to be able to deal with the package he came bundled with.

His bundle includes intense scrutiny of everything he says and does, a hectic schedule of public engagements and advancing his personal causes. Now she will become a part of this world, and help manage the bundle. On their engagement he said she’s “an addition, another team player” on their bigger Royal Team and it’s a “huge relief” to him that she’s up to the challenge of the job.

A man doesn’t want to have to choose between you and the rest of his life- he just wants to add you to it. That’s one reason men who may actually enjoy being with you, won’t take it to the next level. They don’t see you in that role.

All marriages involve making some sacrifices

In taking on Harry’s bundle, Meghan has had to let some major aspects of her identity go. Her religious affiliation, her acting career, her social media- all in the past. I think she’ll still work to advance women’s causes, even after marriage. I mean, look, she’s now got a bigger platform than she probably ever dreamed of. She’ll recraft her identity to serve her new role, in her new life chapter.

The point regarding marriage is, you’ve got to know what you’re getting into and decide: