Prince Harry Reportedly Ditched His Childhood Friend That Introduced Him To Meghan Markle
Matchmaking is still alive and well, and you can actually hire one if you're tired of dating apps. Plenty of celebrity couples have had someone play Cupid for them, such as Patti LaBelle moonlighting as a matchmaker for Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade. For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, however, their matchmaker was actually Harry's childhood pal, Violet Von Westenholz, someone who used to be seen with the couple but hasn't been in quite a long time.
Von Westenholz, a mutual friend, set up the future couple on a blind date, something Harry and Markle laughed about during their engagement interview back in 2017. "It was definitely a setup," Markle said, before admitting she didn't know much about the prince. She only asked Von Westenholz one question before the date: "Was he nice?" Similarly, Harry had no idea who Markle was or that she was starring on "Suits" at the time.
However, Von Westenholz reportedly hasn't mentioned Harry or Meghan since 2018 and vice versa (per Marca). The reason could be due to a similar issue that partly caused Harry and Prince William's feud: Harry and Meghan left the royal family.
The Von Westenholz family are longtime friends of the royals
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had an interesting relationship since they first met in 2016, and the parents of Archie and Lilibet left Frogmore Cottage for Montecito, California in 2020. This move created a huge rift between Harry and the rest of the royal family, which may have trickled down to Violet Von Westenholz.
Her father, Baron Piers Von Westenholz, is BFFs with King Charles, while her mother, Jane Von Westenholz, is one of Queen Camilla's six "Queen's Companions," a prestigious honor. Since Charles and Camilla have issues with Harry, and Violet's family is intertwined with the king and queen, it would make sense for her to quietly distance herself from her childhood friend.
Violet has known Harry since they were teenagers, thanks to their fathers' friendship, but she first met Markle through her job as a PR director for Ralph Lauren. Markle attended one event she organized at Wimbledon, and that's how they met. According to Harry's memoir, "Spare," Violet shared a video of Markle on Instagram, a video Harry saw and immediately messaged Violet about, asking her, "Who ... is ... this ... woman?" From there, the rest is history.