Prince Harry recently shared that he first spotted his future wife, Meghan Markle, not through her role on the popular TV series Suits, but on a friend’s Instagram feed in 2016. He was immediately struck by her beauty.

In his memoir, titled Spare, the Duke of Sussex, now 44, recounts an ordinary day on July 1, 2016, when he was idly browsing Instagram at Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace. A video featuring his childhood friend, Violet von Westenholz, sitting with an unidentified woman, piqued his interest, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Harry reminisced about the first time he saw Meghan, writing: “They were having fun with a new app that added silly filters to photos. Both Violet and the woman had dog ears, noses, and long red tongues. Despite these playful filters, I couldn’t help but sit up. The woman with Violet… my God.”

Enchanted, Harry watched the video repeatedly, confessing: “I had never encountered someone so stunning. She seemed to live life as a grand adventure, and I could sense that. I thought what a privilege it would be to join her on that journey. At that moment, I felt like she was the one for me.”

Violet connected the pair via Instagram after Harry’s urgent plea

Eager to meet the woman who had captivated him, Harry quickly messaged Violet, requesting an introduction to Meghan. Violet replied almost immediately, sharing that although “six other guys” had inquired about the actress, she was willing to connect Harry and Meghan via Instagram.

Soon after, Harry received a message from Meghan herself, complimenting him on the “beautiful photographs” he had shared from his travels to Africa. The pair quickly exchanged numbers and began a flurry of back-and-forth texting that left Harry’s thumbs “cramping” as he tried to keep up.

Harry was hooked, texting Meghan “like a teenager” during dinner

Writing in Spare, Harry confessed that when he visited the home of English entrepreneur Sir Keith Mills for dinner shortly after, he was texting Meghan “throughout the long drive and up the stairs into his guestroom.”

“I locked the door and remained holed up, texting. I sat on my bed texting like a teenager until it was time to have dinner with Sir Keith and his family. Then, after dessert, I quickly returned to the guestroom and resumed texting,” he wrote.

Despite their seemingly different worlds, Harry found their contrasts “organic” and “energising,” and wasted no time asking Meghan on a date before she was due to fly back home to Canada, where Suits was filmed.

Meghan suggested they meet for drinks at Soho House, “her headquarters whenever she came to London,” and booked a table for them at the exclusive member’s club on July 3, 2016. However, Harry ended up being 30 minutes late due to bad traffic.

Harry was “heart-attack beautiful” and the pair fell in love in Botswana

After a bumpy start, the pair fell into an easy conversation, with Prince Harry describing Meghan as “heart-attack beautiful.” Their date ended when Meghan had to rush off for her dinner plans, but they agreed to a second date over FaceTime later that evening.

Following another successful date at Soho House, Harry took their whirlwind romance to the next level, inviting Meghan on a week-long safari in Botswana. It was there, during what was technically their third date, that the two fell in love.

Harry had “no idea” about Meghan’s Suits fame, Meghan was clueless too

During their engagement interview with the BBC’s Mishal Husain in November 2017, Harry revealed that he had had “no idea” about Meghan’s stint on Suits, telling the broadcaster: “I had never even heard about her until this friend said ‘Meghan Markle’. I was like ‘right, okay, give me a bit of background!’”

Meghan also claimed that she was relatively unfamiliar with the prince, confessing: “I didn’t know much about him and so the only thing that I had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was – I had one question. I said, ‘Well, is he nice?’”

From a chance Instagram sighting to a fairytale wedding watched by millions around the world, Harry and Meghan’s love story is one for the ages – even if their royal journey ultimately took an unexpected turn.