Prince Harry and Meghan Markle learned on Halloween 2016 that the press knew about their relationship, turning their apocalypse-themed party into their final chance to enjoy a public outing in private. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke about the moment in their Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan.
Harry and Meghan first met 10 years ago and began dating in 2016. After a few months of private dates following their first meeting in the summer of 2016, the couple found out before heading to a party that the press had learned of their relationship.
A Halloween Party Before Going Public
The couple attended an apocalypse-themed Halloween party with Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie and her now-husband, Jack Brooksbank. Harry wrote in his memoir about how that Halloween changed everything: "We'd been tipped, before heading off to the Halloween Apocalypse, that another apocalypse might be coming."
Harry said his costume was a good disguise and meant nobody recognised him as the pair partied at Toronto's Soho House. He described the party as being fun and silly.
Everything Changed Forever
The next day, Harry said "everything was changed forever" after receiving a call that their relationship was about to go public in the press. He said they knew the day would come and that they used the party the previous night to make the most of their freedom before the world knew about them.
In the Netflix docuseries, Prince Harry said: "We went to this Halloween party together where we could be completely dressed up and no one would know." Meghan added: "We were like, 'Well, this might be our last shot to just go out and have fun.'"
Engagement, Marriage and Moving to America
Just over a year after their relationship became public knowledge, Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017. Prince Harry had proposed in the garden of their Nottingham Cottage home on the Kensington Palace estate.
In 2018, the couple married in Windsor and moved into Frogmore Cottage. They became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and welcomed their first son, Prince Archie, in 2019. Before their son turned one, the couple quit royal life in the UK and moved to America, blaming partly the scrutiny they faced as a couple.
Only this August have they moved back to Britain with their two children, Archie, now seven, and Princess Lilibet, five. They remain non-working royals.
