Prince Harry had planned to make a secret trip to visit his actress girlfriend Meghan Markle in Canada yesterday.
Sources say Harry, 32, was booked on Flight BA0093 at 11.30am from Heathrow to Toronto on Sunday when news of his romance broke in the press. A source said: “The flight was booked last week but he was a no-show.”
Harry, 32, met the American, who plays Rachel Zane in the hit US TV show Suits, in Toronto in May on a promotional visit for his Invictus Games. The legal drama is filmed in the city.
Reports say he is “besotted” and has introduced her to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. The source added: “The crew for the British Airways flight knew the prince was booked to travel with them. It appears he pulled out at the last minute and decided not to travel.”
Kensington Palace said it did not comment on “private matters”. Markle, 35, visited the UK in the summer and was seen in the royal box at Wimbledon.
The actress, who has 1mn followers on Instagram and 320,000 on Twitter, posted on her lifestyle blog, TheTig, about her trips to London – when Harry was in town – including a picture of her visiting Buckingham Palace. Her representatives also remained silent yesterday.
Markle, whose father is a retired lighting director and mother a yoga instructor, shares Harry’s love for humanitarian causes. She is an ambassador for World Vision Canada and advocate for United Nations Women.
She is divorced from producer Trevor Engelson. They broke up two years after their wedding in 2011. Before she met Harry, she was dating Cory Vitiello, a chef and restaurateur.
In 2013, she told Esquire: “The best job a man could have would be a chef. They’d understand the long hours I work and the drive and ambition it takes to succeed.” But she added: “I love how British guys dress for the cold. There’s something so romantic about a man in a scarf and a knitted hat.”
Yesterday, bookmakers suspended all bets on the prince getting married. Previously, they had offered odds of 12-1 that he would announce his engagement this year, and 5-1 that he would wed in 2017. Earlier this year, Harry said: “Even if I talk to a girl, that person is then suddenly my wife.”