Prince Harry and Meghan Markle enjoyed a touching throwback to their first date when they paid a visit to Soho House in Austin on Thursday night – and it seems the nostalgia continued today when the Duke was seen sitting alongside the private members’ club mogul who helped to matchmake the Sussexes eight years ago.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, flew to Austin to support his wife as she appeared in an International Women’s Day Panel at SXSW on Friday, when he was seen cheering her on from the front row, while seated alongside Markus Anderson, the man who is widely credited with helping the pair’s romance to flourish in its earliest days.
Harry was spotted adoringly watching the former Suits star, 42, from the front row as she stepped on stage with Brooke Shields and Katie Couric for the female-focused discussion.
He was joined by Soho House director Markus, 43, who played a major part in setting the actress and the royal up back in 2016.
Dressed in a salmon sweater, Markus was the epitome of cool as he listened to his longtime pal Meghan speak, while Harry, looked sleek in a navy suit jacket and button-down white shirt.
Prince Harry sat next to Meghan Markle ‘s old friend and confidante Markus Anderson as he supported his wife at SXSW on Friday
The Duke of Sussex, 39, was spotted watching the former Suits star, 42, from the front row as she stepped on stage with a slew of other stars for an International Women’s Day panel
He was joined by Soho House director Markus, 43, who played a major part in setting the actress and the royal up back in 2016
Markus has been by Meghan’s side for years and accompanied her to numerous major appearances in the past, like at the Invictus Games in 2017 (seen)
He acted as her ‘bouncer’ as she made her way through the drones of photographers outside a New York hotel for her baby shower in 2019. They’re seen during the NYC trip in 2019
Markus has been by Meghan’s side for years and accompanied her to numerous major appearances in the past: he was with her when she made her first public outing with Harry at the Invictus Games in 2017; and he acted as her ‘bouncer’ as she made her way through the drones of photographers outside a New York hotel for her baby shower in 2019.
The businessman, who grew up in Peterborough, Ontario – a Canadian town 90 miles north-east of Toronto – moved to London at age 18, where he landed a job as a waiter at the A-list members-only club Soho House.
He quickly caught the eye of founder Nick Jones, and rose through the ranks while developing an immense network of celebrity friends.
Nick soon sent him back to Canada to set up a Soho House in Toronto – and in 2011, he met a young Meghan after she moved to the country to film the first season of her TV legal drama Suits.
The two quickly grew close, with Meghan once writing on her now defunct website The Tig: ‘What would I do without you, my loving, supportive, and endlessly fun friend?
‘I know what… I would be bored, and life would be infinitely less interesting. I love you SO much. Happiest of days for you now and always. Love you.’
Meghan even referred to Markus as ‘uncle’ to her two dogs Guy and Bogart, and was photographed on a lavish vacation with him in Madrid in 2016.
Well-connected Markus soon began introducing her to his celebrity clientele and friends, including George and Amal Clooney and Jessica Mulroney – daughter-in-law of ex-Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who went on to become one of Meghan’s closest pals before a rumored falling-out divided them in 2019.
The businessman, who grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, moved to London at age 18, where he landed a job as a waiter at the A-list members-only club Soho House
He quickly caught the eye of founder Nick Jones, and rose through the ranks while developing an immense network of celebrity friends. He’s seen at Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry
Nick soon sent him back to Canada to set up a Soho House in Toronto – and in 2011, he met a young Meghan after she began filming Suits. They’re seen together in 2016
While Meghan and Harry are widely believed to have first met on a blind date in London set up by designer Misha Nonoo, it was in Canada – and more specifically at Markus’ Soho House – that their love blossomed.
He reportedly arranged for the couple to meet secretly in private rooms at the club, and helped them escape on romantic weekend getaways together.
The consultant has been dubbed as the ‘second most important man in her life,’ so it seems only fitting that he and Harry cheered Meghan on at the event together.
Meghan was joined actress Brooke Shields and longtime news anchor Katie Couric on-stage at the prestigious festival, where she lead a panel discussion about ‘breaking barriers’ and ‘women’s representation.’
The Duchess, dressed in an off-white striped skirt and shirt combo, began by gushing about her ‘excitement’ to be joining the panel, before going on to tout the many female-focused initiatives that she and Prince Harry work on through their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation.
‘I’m so excited to be here and to be with such incredible women, so much brilliance on this panel and this is just such an amazing way to celebrate IWD,’ she said.
When asked about the Archewell Foundation’s decision to fund a recent report calling for ‘true representation’ for mothers on TV, Meghan explained that she and Harry had chosen to get involved with the project for ‘three key reasons.’
‘My husband and I, our foundation helped to fund it because I think from our standpoint, and certainly from mine, there are three key reasons why it felt vital to see the information they were going to be pulling from this report,’ she said.
‘On a personal level, I’ve just always loved understanding women and our stories and our lived experiences and our shared experiences so I was really curious to see what the report was going to uncover.
The two quickly grew close, with Meghan once writing on her now website The Tig: ‘What would I do without you, my loving, supportive, and endlessly fun friend?’ They’re seen in 2014
Meghan even referred to Markus as ‘uncle’ to her two dogs Guy and Bogart, and was photographed on a lavish vacation with him in Madrid in 2016 (seen)
Markus reportedly arranged for Meghan and Prince Harry (seen in 2017) to meet secretly in private rooms at his club, and helped them escape on romantic weekend getaways together
‘Oftentimes as women, the way that we see ourselves is reflected back to us, sometimes accurately, and sometimes, much to our disservice, inaccurately, in what we see in media.
‘So to be able to have the findings to propel that, to make sure women are really being seen in a way that is reflective of who and how we are and how we move through the world, felt important.
‘From a philanthropic standpoint there is obviously a lot of work to be done in supporting women and moms. You can begin with paid leave.’
Meghan went on to open up about the hatred she received online while pregnant with her children, Archie, now four, and Lilibet, now two.
‘I keep my distance from [social media] right now for my wellbeing but the bulk of the bullying and abuse I was experiencing in social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili, and with a newborn, with each of them,’ she said after being asked about the trolling she has faced.
‘You just think about that and to wrap your head about why people would be so hateful. it’s not catty it’s cruel. Why you would do that when you’re pregnant or as a mom at such a tender and sacred time.’
She questioned how anyone could ‘do that’ to a an expectant or new mother – noting that much of the vitriol she was seeing online was coming from women trying to take down other women.
‘[It’s] women completely spewing that to other women and I cannot make sense of that,’ Meghan continued.