Prince Harry sits with Meghan Markle’s buddy Markus Anderson at SXSW

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle loved a touching throwback to their first date after they paid a go to to Soho House in Austin on Thursday night time – and it appears the nostalgia continued right now when the Duke was seen sitting alongside the non-public members’ membership mogul who helped to matchmake the Sussexes eight years in the past.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, flew to Austin to help his spouse as she appeared in an International Women’s Day Panel at SXSW on Friday, when he was seen cheering her on from the entrance row, whereas seated alongside Markus Anderson, the person who’s extensively credited with serving to the pair’s romance to flourish in its earliest days.  

Harry was noticed adoringly watching the previous Suits star, 42, from the entrance row as she stepped on stage with Brooke Shields and Katie Couric for the female-focused dialogue.

He was joined by Soho House director Markus, 43, who performed a serious half in setting the actress and the royal up again in 2016.

Dressed in a salmon sweater, Markus was the epitome of cool as he listened to his longtime pal Meghan communicate, whereas Harry, regarded smooth in a navy swimsuit jacket and button-down white shirt.

Markus has been by Meghan’s aspect for years and accompanied her to quite a few main appearances previously: he was along with her when she made her first public outing with Harry on the Invictus Games in 2017; and he acted as her ‘bouncer’ as she made her means via the drones of photographers exterior a New York resort for her child bathe in 2019. 

The businessman, who grew up in Peterborough, Ontario – a Canadian city 90 miles north-east of Toronto – moved to London at age 18, the place he landed a job as a waiter on the A-list members-only membership Soho House.

He shortly caught the attention of founder Nick Jones, and rose via the ranks whereas creating an immense community of superstar pals. 

Nick quickly despatched him again to Canada to arrange a Soho House in Toronto – and in 2011, he met a younger Meghan after she moved to the nation to movie the primary season of her TV authorized drama Suits. 

The two shortly grew shut, with Meghan as soon as writing on her now defunct web site The Tig: ‘What would I do with out you, my loving, supportive, and endlessly enjoyable buddy?

‘I do know what… I’d be bored, and life can be infinitely much less attention-grabbing. I like you SO a lot. Happiest of days for you now and at all times. Love you.’

Meghan even referred to Markus as ‘uncle’ to her two canine Guy and Bogart, and was photographed on a lavish trip with him in Madrid in 2016. 

Well-connected Markus quickly started introducing her to his superstar clientele and pals, together with George and Amal Clooney and Jessica Mulroney – daughter-in-law of ex-Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who went on to turn out to be one in all Meghan’s closest buddies earlier than a rumored falling-out divided them in 2019.

While Meghan and Harry are extensively believed to have first met on a blind date in London arrange by designer Misha Nonoo, it was in Canada – and extra particularly at Markus’ Soho House – that their love blossomed. 

He reportedly organized for the couple to fulfill secretly in non-public rooms on the membership, and helped them escape on romantic weekend getaways collectively.

The marketing consultant has been dubbed because the ‘second most essential man in her life,’ so it appears solely becoming that he and Harry cheered Meghan on on the occasion collectively.

Meghan was joined actress Brooke Shields and longtime information anchor Katie Couric on-stage on the prestigious pageant, the place she lead a panel dialogue about ‘breaking boundaries’ and ‘ladies’s illustration.’

The Duchess, wearing an off-white striped skirt and shirt combo, started by gushing about her ‘pleasure’ to be becoming a member of the panel, earlier than happening to tout the various female-focused initiatives that she and Prince Harry work on via their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation.

‘I’m so excited to be right here and to be with such unimaginable ladies, a lot brilliance on this panel and that is simply such an incredible option to rejoice IWD,’ she stated. 

When requested in regards to the Archewell Foundation’s resolution to fund a latest report calling for ‘true illustration’ for moms on TV, Meghan defined that she and Harry had chosen to get entangled with the challenge for ‘three key causes.’ 

‘My husband and I, our basis helped to fund it as a result of I feel from our standpoint, and definitely from mine, there are three key the reason why it felt important to see the knowledge they have been going to be pulling from this report,’ she stated.

‘On a private degree, I’ve simply at all times liked understanding ladies and our tales and our lived experiences and our shared experiences so I used to be actually curious to see what the report was going to uncover.

‘Oftentimes as ladies, the best way that we see ourselves is mirrored again to us, generally precisely, and generally, a lot to our disservice, inaccurately, in what we see in media. 

‘So to have the ability to have the findings to propel that, to verify ladies are actually being seen in a means that’s reflective of who and the way we’re and the way we transfer via the world, felt essential.

‘From a philanthropic standpoint there’s clearly a whole lot of work to be finished in supporting ladies and mothers. You can start with paid depart.’

Meghan went on to open up in regards to the hatred she acquired on-line whereas pregnant along with her kids, Archie, now 4, and Lilibet, now two.

‘I preserve my distance from [social media] proper now for my wellbeing however the bulk of the bullying and abuse I used to be experiencing in social media and on-line was after I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili, and with a new child, with every of them,’ she stated after being requested in regards to the trolling she has confronted.

‘You simply take into consideration that and to wrap your head about why folks can be so hateful. it is not catty it is merciless. Why you’ll do this if you’re pregnant or as a mother at such a young and sacred time.’

She questioned how anybody might ‘do this’ to a an expectant or new mom – noting that a lot of the vitriol she was seeing on-line was coming from ladies attempting to take down different ladies.

‘[It’s] ladies utterly spewing that to different ladies and I can not make sense of that,’ Meghan continued.