Prince Philip was ‘reluctant to be charmed’ by Meghan Markle – and gave Prince Harry a cutting warning before their wedding
‘When the Queen got to the back door she stopped in her tracks, pointed majestically at a pair of fluorescent boots and demanded: “Whose are those?”
‘They were quickly replaced by some green wellies from Ballater,’ Lownie writes.
But rather than a mere fling, ‘it was clear that this was a serious relationship’.
Later reflecting on her daughter’s time with the now disgraced ex-duke, Stark’s mother, Kathi Norris, revealed that the two ‘talked about spending the rest of their lives together’.
‘I thought they were going to get married,’ she said.
While the couple sought to keep a low profile for a while, news of their budding relationship eventually hit the press – with Stark likening the incessant press intrusion to ‘being under house arrest’.
For a while, the pair met in secret – using singer Steve Strange’s home in Chelsea as a location for their rendezvous under the alias of phrases such as ‘It’s the changing of the guard.’
But their relationship ultimately hit a crisis point. While Andrew was said to have sought to ‘persuade’ the Queen’s press secretary, Michael Shea, to release a statement asking that the couple have privacy – Shea refused, arguing that it was not the Palace’s place to comment on ‘private matters’.