Prince Harry had a crush on Meghan Markle for "two years" before they met.
The 33-year-old royal has been in a relationship with the ‘Suits’ actress since the middle of last year, and whilst the romance is still fairly new, it has been revealed the brunette beauty first caught the Prince’s eye two years prior to their meeting, as he had been attracted to Rachel Zane, her character on the USA Network drama.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl said: "He had a crush on Rachel Zane two years before he met Meghan and the reason I know is because I was having drinks with one of his friends.
"She told me she’d been on a night out with Prince Harry. He was single at the time, so she said, ‘Harry, who’s your ideal girl?’ And he said ‘Meghan Markle from ‘Suits’.’"
The flame-haired royal orchestrated a meeting between the pair in July 2016 through mutual friend Markus Anderson, and whilst they met up with "seven or eight" people, it was the "perfect opportunity" for the two to talk.
Speaking in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary ‘When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Romance’, Katie added: "He asked Markus if he could set up, not a date, but an opportunity for them to meet and that happened in one of the private rooms of Soho House.
"There were about seven or eight of them altogether and it was a perfect opportunity for Harry and Meghan to come together in a really informal environment and actually talk.
"She was funny, feisty, confident and she wasn’t swayed or knocked by the fact that he was Prince Harry. She thought he was terribly cute."
It comes after the same royal expert recently claimed the happy couple could move in together as early as next month.
She said previously: "I am told by my sources that Meghan is likely to be moving to London as soon as November.
"She’s not signing up for another series of ‘Suits’. She’s planning to leave Canada and make London her new, permanent home."