Meet the woman who set up Harry and Meghan
Royal family friend coy about role
Meghan and Harry owe it all to a mysterious matchmaker; the unidentified cupid who decided that the dashing English prince would be a perfect fit for the glamorous American actress.
Harry and Markle have described how their mutual friend arranged the blind date in July 2016 that led to the announcement 16 months later of their engagement. The only clue they gave was that the matchmaker was a woman.
The firer of cupid’s arrow has not been formally named but the Daily Telegraph understands she is Violet von Westenholz, one of Prince Harry’s oldest family friends. Von Westenholz’s aristocratic father is a former Olympic skier and close friend of the Prince of Wales.
Westenholz, 33, a close friend of Prince Harry’s since they were teenagers, declined to deny that she had been responsible for setting up their first date. “I might leave that for other people to say (who it is),” she told the Daily Telegraph.
“It’s a great story and I am sure they are going to be very happy together. I am just happy they are really happy. They are great together.”
Westenholz, the public relations director for the Ralph Lauren fashion label, was working with Markle at the end of June 2016, just a few days before the blind date that changed the course of royal history.
Westenholz helped to organize a publicity day in London on June 30 in 2016 for Suits, the U.S. drama in which Markle stars. Markle, dressed head to toe in the Ralph Lauren fashion brand for the series launch, later posted on her Instagram account: “Thanks Violet von Westenholz.”
Markle would later be thanking her for a lot more than making sure the publicity day went smoothly. Four days later on July 4, Markle was accompanied at Wimbledon by Westenholz as a VIP guest of Ralph Lauren, which designed the outfits for the umpires, line judges and ball girls and boys at the tournament.
Markle wrote on the July 4 on Instagram: “How much more could I adore this gem thank you Violet von Westenholz” and added a grinning “selfie” of the two of them.
By then, it is thought she had already enjoyed her first blind date with Prince Harry. According to the Court Circular, the prince had flown back to the U.K. on July 1, having attended a memorial service to mark the battle of the Somme; their first date — which by the couple’s own admission was in July — must have taken place at some point between July 1 and July 5. On that day Markle flew back to Canada where Suits is filmed and she was living.
On July 3, in the midst of her London stay at exclusive members’ club Soho House, Markle had apparently fallen in love. The clue is a posting on Instagram of a “Love Hearts” traditional sweet that bore the simple message “KISS ME.” Next to the photograph she simply posted “Lovehearts in London.” Markle was smitten.
It is thought the date took place in a private dining room at the exclusive club located in a Georgian townhouse.
A day later Markle, wearing a black dress and dark glasses, was at Wimbledon with von Westenholz at her side. Twenty-four hours later she was preparing to fly home. “Gutted to be leaving London,” she wrote on Instagram.
Von Westenholz declined to take sole credit for her matchmaking when approached by the Daily Telegraph and insisted others were also involved. At Wimbledon, keeping Markle company was another fashionista, Olivia Buckingham, a stylist for a number of brands, and Sadie Mantovani, who was then chief brand officer at Ralph Lauren.
Photographs show Markle, Mantovani and Buckingham, laughing and sharing jokes during a break in play on centre court.
Von Westenholz was a regular on the Royal family’s annual skiing trips to Klosters. In 2000, when aged just 16 she and her sister Victoria, then aged 13, accompanied Princes William and Harry on their annual weeklong skiing trip.
The sisters’ parents Baron Piers von Westenholz and his wife Jane are close friends of Prince Charles. The baron, 73, an antiques dealer and interior designer, is a former Olympic skier, competing for Britain at the winter games in Innsbruck in 1964.