According to a new book, the former 'Suits' star was still sharing a home with her then-boyfriend Cory Vitiello when she asked Harry's childhood friend Violet von Westenholz to set her up on a blind date with the prince.
- Jul 22, 2022
AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle allegedly dumped her chef ex for Prince Harry. According to a new book, the former actress was still living with her then-boyfriend Cory Vitiello when she had her first date with her now-husband.
In "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors", author Tom Bower claims that in a conversation at Wimbledon, Meghan persuaded Harry's childhood friend Violet von Westenholz, who was working as a publicist for Ralph Lauren, to set her up on a blind date with the prince, according to Page Six.
"Her problems were familiar to all unknown, unmarried actors in their mid-thirties - fear of loneliness and personal and financial insecurity," Tom writes. "Unsurprisingly, Meghan was preoccupied by her own financial security - and finding a husband."
Violet allegedly sent Harry photos of the actress first before they went on their first date on July 1, 2016. Although Meghan's two-year romance with Cory, a Toronto-based chef, was on the brink of separation when she met Harry, they still shared a home together at the time.
Making it more awkward, two weeks after their first date, "Harry secretly flew to Toronto. He stayed for about one week in the house of a friend of Meghan's, probably Jessica Mulroney. With Cory still sharing [Meghan's] home, the situation for Meghan was tricky but manageable."
"At the end of the week, after he returned to London, Meghan was convinced that her spell was cast and the relationship with Harry would be sealed. She told Cory that their affair was over," Tom writes. According to the book, Cory "was relieved. The final months had been unpleasant."
This isn't the first time it's revealed that Meghan's first date first Harry might have overlapped with her relationship with Cory. In February 2021, Meghan's estranged sister Samantha Markle also questioned the timeline of the "Suits" alum's relationships with Harry and Cory.
Samantha wrote, "What confused me was that, if [Meghan and Harry] had been dating for six months, she would've been dating Harry at the same time she was dating the restaurateur Cory, who seemed like a good fit," according to The Royal Observer, which obtained an advance copy of Samantha's book "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister: A Memoir" at the time.
She further alleged, "I imagine that Cory will be devastated by being 'dumped' for a prince, or was she dating them both simultaneously? I was sure it could be uncomfortable for either of them."
