Meghan Markle Reveals She Secretly Married Harry 3 Days Before Royal Wedding: 'No One Knows...'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s love story began when they were set up on a blind date in 2016. They married at St. George's Chapel on Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. Or so we thought. Markle once shared that she and Harry got married privately three days before their widely watched royal wedding. The intimate ceremony, void of any prying cameras and fanfare, was just for them. The revelation, which came during the couple's interview with Oprah Winfrey, surprised many.

Markle shared that the secret wedding was arranged in their backyard, initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As reported by People magazine, she said, "Three days before our wedding, we got married, no one knows that but we called the Archbishop and said, 'This thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us.'" As reported by Us Weekly, the Duchess of Sussex added, "So the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury."

After their Oprah interview aired, a source close to the couple clarified that while they had a secret wedding ceremony, they were legally married on May 19 during their royal wedding. In the sit-down, Markle also shared why she felt it was the right time to share the same. She said, "As an adult who lived a really independent life, to then go into this construct that is different from...what people imagine it to be. It’s really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege, in some ways, to be able to say, ‘Yes, I’m ready to talk.’”

She added that it felt good “to be able to just make a choice on your own and just be able to speak for yourself," as reported by the Town and Country magazine. Harry and Markle reportedly also kept their engagement under wraps for months. According to royal experts Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in their 2020 book Finding Freedom, the couple had gotten engaged three months before they publicly announced the news in November 2017. Harry shared that he had proposed to Markle in the comfort of their home.

Speaking of the proposal, Markle said, “It was — what we were doing? Just roasting chicken…Trying to roast a chicken and it — just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee.” The couple shared that at the time of their engagement, they had been together for around a year and a half. According to Scobie and Durand, their connection was instant, so much so that they were already exchanging 'I love you’s' within weeks of meeting, as reported by Us Weekly.