Harry seals love for Meghan with a kiss
A TENDER kiss between Prince Harry and his girlfriend Meghan Markle is sure to fuel rumours that an engagement may not be far away.
The young royal was seated with dignitaries including Canadian First Lady Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and her eight-year-old daughter Ella-Grace for the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto on Saturday night.
But shortly after the ceremony started the 33-year-old Prince slipped away from his seat to join Meghan, 36, and her mother Doria Radlan in their private box on the other side of the stadium.
The therapist had flown in from her home in Los Angeles to be at the event with her actress daughter.
It is not the first time she has met the man commentators and bookmakers expect to become her son in law.
As guests enjoyed live music from headline acts Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams, Harry chatted with Meghan and then sneaked a kiss on her cheek.
Earlier the American had looked on while Harry took to the stage to pay tribute to the athletes at the Paralympics-style games which he founded in 2014 to honour disabled service personnel.
Teams from 17 nations, made up of more than 500 participants, took part during the week-long tournament which will be staged in Sydney next year.
It was the third time Meghan, who lives in Toronto while filming her hit TV drama Suits, had attended the games. At the opening ceremony she sat apart from Harry. But two days later they walked hand-in-hand to their seats to watch the wheelchair tennis.
Former US president Barack Obama proved that he is as keen as everyone for the latest gossip about the couple.
When he and Harry sat together watching a wheelchair basketball match between the US and France on Friday, Mr Obama was overheard quizzing the Prince about his romance.
Student Hayley Stover, 18, who was sitting on the other side of the Prince, said: “Obama asked about Meghan and Harry let him know she had been to watch the tennis with him. He asked if she was enjoying the Games and Harry was really smiling as he said yes. He looked so happy. It was cute.”
The couple met last July when Meghan came to Europe for a holiday.
They were introduced by their mutual friend Markus Anderson, a consultant for the private members’
club Soho House which has a branch in Toronto.
Harry flew to the city several times to visit Meghan but they managed to keep their relationship secret until last November.
Anderson, 36, kept Meghan company throughout the games and was there again on Saturday night.
Friends say that vital to the romance has been the way Harry has won over Meghan’s mother. The 61-year-old therapist’s background in social work has given her a keen social conscience and made her a shrewd judge of character.
If Doria had not liked Harry, say friends, it is unlikely the relationship would have lasted.
Meghan said in an interview earlier this year: “My mum’s a yoga instructor, but she does social work, as well, and she works specifically with the geriatric community. For me to watch this level of life-long sensitivity to nurturing and care-giving... but at the same time my mum has always been a free spirit. She’s got dreadlocks and a nose ring. She just ran the LA marathon.
“We can just have so much fun together and yet I’ll still find so much solace in her support. That duality coexists the same way it would in a best friend.”
FINALLY the Royal love is sealed with a kiss. Harry plants a smacker on Meghan’s cheek in the presence of her mother and, as every man knows, there is no greater sign of approval than that. Now Harry, it’s time to put a ring on her finger.