The choreography of royal dating is convoluted series of steps.
Long established and evolved to protect both the royals and their prospective delicate love interests from the famously “enthusiastic” U.K. press, they rarely deviate from it.
With his new girlfriend, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry doesn’t seem to feel the need to toe the line.Holding hands may not seem noteworthy, normal people do it all the time, but PDAs are not something for which the British royal family are particularly renowned.
Which is why photos of Harry, 32, and Meghan, 35, hand-in-hand on the streets of London have caused such a stir.
It is a sign of his confidence in her ability to handle the attention that they continue to date in public, this week returning to chief London celebrity haunt Soho House on Wednesday evening. Photographs may be banned inside, but outside every diner knows they will run the gauntlet of the inevitable shutterbugs.
The Sun pictures show Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the city holding hands. The couple were snapped as they went for dinner, reportedly at the club at which they were introduced by friends last year.
They are dressed down, the prince again sporting the teal beanie that he wore to a theater date with Meghan back in December, while she wears an untucked shirt and slacks.
Harry has been protective, verging on the strident, in his defense of Meghan and this relationship. In November, he issued a remarkably strongly worded letter during which he hit out at the press and social media.
In the 406-word statement—which was described by London’s Telegraph as the equivalent of “starting a pub fight”—Harry wrote that “a line has been crossed.”
“Meghan has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment…” He referred to a “smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces.”
Apparently—according to The Sun—Meghan has “virtually moved into” Harry’s Nottingham cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace and the couple have been “inseparable” for the past five weeks since the actress finished filming Suits.
Now The Sun is putting us on notice for a spring engagement.
“They’ve taken things to the next level. They’re practically living together. She cooks for him, he pops out to the gym, and they’re just enjoying hanging out,” the friend told The Sun.
“Meg has always enjoyed spending time in London, but she’s really putting down roots.”
Previous reports have suggested that Meghan has already been introduced to Prince Charles in advance of “The Announcement.”
Undoubtedly the Los Angeles native appears to have been spending more time here, having been photographed up and down Kensington Church Street, a quaint road adjacent to the palace.
But now with pictures of the couple hand-in-hand, expect a sudden uptick in Harry Fever.
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