Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s huge Netflix docuseries has arrived. Titled Harry & Meghan, the six-episode sequence focuses on the life and love story of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and guarantees an unprecedented, intimate look into the couple’s relationship. It additionally guarantees a variety of inside intel on the royal household generally. Quantity I of the six-episode sequence is now streaming, with the second volume arriving on Dec. 15.

In a single trailer for the undertaking, Harry admits, “It is actually arduous to look again on it now and go, ‘What on earth occurred?’”

To assist make sense of all of it, here is a brief primer on the couple’s relationship thus far.

July 2016: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry meet.

All of the couple would say at first was that they have been launched by mates in the summertime of 2016, however two years later E! News revealed it was Harry’s childhood buddy Violet von Westenholz who launched him to Meghan.

Von Westenholz had met Meghan whereas working in PR with Ralph Lauren. The Fits actress had been in London for some time and making buddy with “the excessive society set actually simply,” the supply defined. After Harry confided his relationship points in his buddy, Meghan got here to her thoughts. The Prince had truly by no means watched Fits, and was very pleasantly stunned when he met his future spouse for the primary time. There was an instantaneous attraction.

In Harry & Meghan, the couple clarified that they first interacted on Instagram earlier than happening their first date.

“Meghan and I met over Instagram,” Harry stated. “I used to be scrolling by way of my feed and somebody who was a buddy had this video of the 2 of them, it was like a Snapchat, and it’s … with doggy ears and … that was the very first thing, it was like who’s that?”

He added, “After which we bought one another’s numbers and we have been simply continually in contact, and I went, ‘Let’s meet.’” They in the end met at 76 Dean Avenue in London. Meghan recollects that her now-husband was half an hour late, however he was “so candy” and “genuinely so embarrassed” for his tardiness. “He was simply so enjoyable,” Meghan added. “Simply so refreshingly enjoyable. And that was the factor, we have been like childlike collectively.”

In an interview simply after their engagement, Harry shared the story of their first few dates.

“We met as soon as and twice back-to-back, two dates in London, final July,” he stated. “Starting of July. Then, it was three perhaps 4 weeks later that I managed to steer her to hitch me in Botswana, and we camped out with one another beneath the celebrities.”

Meghan added, “It was positively a arrange, it was a blind date.”

She added that the truth that Harry was a member of the British royal household wasn’t an important factor to her — she simply wished so far a pleasant man.

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“As a result of I am from the States, you do not develop up with the identical understanding of the royal household,” she stated. “And so, whereas I now perceive very clearly there is a international curiosity there, I did not know a lot about him, so the one factor I requested her when she stated she wished to set us up—I had one query—I stated, ‘Properly, is he good?’ As a result of if he wasn’t type, it did not look like it could make sense. And so we went, and had met for a drink, after which I feel in a short time into that stated, ‘Properly, what are we doing tomorrow? We should always meet once more.’”

November 2016: Meghan and Harry go public with their relationship.

The tabloids caught wind of their relationship fairly shortly, primarily forcing an official confession from Kensington Palace just a few months later. Harry’s public assertion about the truth that he and Meghan have been relationship was actually a condemnation of the media’s “abuse and harassment” and racism focusing on her.

“It’s not proper that just a few months right into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle must be subjected to such a storm,” the assertion reads. “He is aware of commentators will say that is ‘the value she has to pay’ and that ‘that is all a part of the sport’. He strongly disagrees. This isn’t a sport – it’s her life and his.”

Sadly, this was only the start of inauspicious conflicts the couple would face with the British public and their very own household.

March 2017: They’re seen at Harry’s charity polo match.

The couple made their first public look along with Meghan supporting Harry as he performed in a charity polo match. The Duchess is usually seen over time supporting her husband from the sidelines as he performs his favourite sport.

Might 2017: Meghan attends Pippa Middleton’s wedding ceremony.

After being launched to his speedy household, Meghan was Harry’s plus one on the wedding ceremony of Pippa Middleton, Kate Middeton’s sister. Pippa married James Matthews in Bucklebury, England. Evidently, Meghan was not on the wedding ceremony ceremony, however Harry drove 100 miles to choose her up at Kensington Palace, London, then again to the Berkshire village of Englefield for the remainder of the festivities.

On the time, ELLE UK reported that it’s “towards royal protocol for members of the royal household to upstage proceedings,” and the general public’s curiosity in Meghan would have positively stolen some consideration from the bride on her huge day.

August 2017: They rejoice Meghan’s thirty sixth birthday.

The couple traveled to Botswana, Africa, for the previous actress’s thirty sixth birthday and to introduce her to a few of his mates within the space.

“He was thrilled to bits that he may introduce her to them,” a source informed US on the time. “The celebration started nearly the minute they touched down. … Meghan was speechless and so touched.”

Rumors of an imminent engagement have been operating wild on the time.

September 2017: Meghan tells Vainness Truthful that she and Harry are “in love.”

Meghan made an look on the quilt of Vainness Truthful, revealing the depth of her romance within the interview.

“We’re a pair. We’re in love,” she told the magazine. “I’m certain there shall be a time when we’ve got to return ahead and current ourselves, and have tales to inform, however I hope what individuals will perceive is that that is our time. That is for us. It’s a part of what makes it so particular, that it’s simply ours. However we’re pleased. Personally, I really like an awesome love story.”

Later that very same month, she was seen with Harry on the Invictus Video games, the charity he based for warfare veterans of excellent athletic achievement. Additionally in attendance was Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland.

This was additionally the month the place Meghan was first launched to the Queen on the monarch’s summer season residence, Balmoral Fortress.

November 20, 2017: Meghan strikes to London.

Although she’d been spending a variety of time within the U.Ok., Meghan nonetheless needed to end capturing her function on Swimsuits. In late November 2017, it was reported that she was an official London resident.

“Meghan has formally moved out of her Toronto residence,” a supply informed US Weekly. “Movers have been seen there yesterday and as we speak. Meghan’s furnishings from her Toronto residence shall be going into storage and her private belongings are being despatched to the UK.”

November 27, 2017: They announce their engagement.

The precise engagement supposedly happened earlier within the month, nevertheless it was introduced on November 27.

“His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle,” the official statement read. “His Royal Highness and Ms. Markle grew to become engaged in London earlier this month. Prince Harry has knowledgeable Her Majesty The Queen and different shut members of his household. Prince Harry has additionally sought and acquired the blessing of Ms. Markle’s dad and mom.”

Meghan’s ring was designed with diamonds from one among Princess Diana’s brooches, connecting her to her late mother-in-law. In an interview with the BBC, Harry stated, “The ring is clearly yellow gold, as a result of that is her favourite, and the primary stone itself I sourced from Botswana, and the little diamonds on both facet are from my mom’s jewellery assortment, to verify she’s with us on this loopy journey collectively.”

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Meghan mentioned in the identical interview how she had met Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother. “She’s an unimaginable girl,” she stated.

In Harry & Meghan, the couple shared how precisely Harry popped the query: he bought down on one knee on a blanket exterior Kensington Palace. “Within the North backyard, being ignored by the workers flats, I bought 15 of these electrical candles,” he stated. “In fact I bought down on one knee. In fact I did.”

Meghan knew her reply instantly. “He’s down on one knee and I used to be identical to, ‘Sure!’” she stated within the doc. “We have been so joyful and excited. I used to be like, ‘Ah, we’re doing this!’”

Might 19, 2018: Harry and Meghan rejoice their wedding ceremony.

In a stunning ceremony on the conventional St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Fortress, the couple formally wed on Might 19, 2018. Forbes reported that 29 million individuals tuned in for the live-broadcast, and there have been 600 visitors in attendance. Meghan wore a Givenchy costume designed by Clare Waight Keller with a ship neck and stylish practice, which she adorned with Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara.

October 2018: Meghan is pregnant with their first little one.

This couple introduced their first being pregnant on Instagram, writing, “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very happy to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is anticipating a child within the Spring of 2019.”

“Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated the entire assist they’ve acquired from individuals around the globe since their wedding ceremony in Might and are delighted to have the ability to share this pleased information with the general public.”

The announcement got here out as they launched into a 16-day royal tour by way of Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand. After arriving residence, they settled in at Windsor Fortress’s Frogmore Cottage.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will transfer to Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Property early subsequent yr as they put together for the arrival of their first little one,” their workplace stated on the time in a statement to People. “Windsor is a really particular place for Their Royal Highnesses and they’re grateful that their official residence shall be on the property.”

Might 6, 2019: Meghan and Harry welcome their son, Archie.

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Might 6, 2019, in London. In an announcement on Instagram, the Palace introduced, “Their Royal Highnesses’ son weighs 7lbs. 3oz. The duchess and child are each wholesome and effectively, and the couple thank members of the general public for his or her shared pleasure and assist throughout this very particular time of their lives.”

“It has been essentially the most wonderful expertise I may have ever presumably imagined,” Harry said to reporters simply afterwards. “How any girl does what they do is past comprehension, however we’re each completely thrilled and so grateful for all of the love and assist from everyone on the market.”

Jan 2020: They step again from their duties as senior royals.

In a controversial resolution, Meghan and Harry introduced that they’re stepping again from their duties as working members of the Royal Household and planning to make the transfer to the U.S.

“After many months of reflection and inner discussions, we’ve got chosen to make a transition this yr in beginning to carve out a progressive new function inside this establishment. We intend to step again as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Household and work to turn into financially impartial, whereas persevering with to totally assist Her Majesty The Queen,” they wrote in an announcement on Instagram.

“We now plan to steadiness our time between the UK and North America, persevering with to honour our responsibility to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages,” they continued. “This geographic steadiness will allow us to lift our son with an appreciation for the royal custom into which he was born, whereas additionally offering our household with the house to concentrate on the following chapter, together with the launch of our new charitable entity.”

March 2020: The household strikes to Montecito, California.

The couple settled into the neighborhood of Montecito, California, the place life appears to maneuver at a extra enjoyable tempo.

“This type of stuff is so fundamental, nevertheless it’s actually fulfilling and about getting again to fundamentals,” Meghan informed Bustle of their passion of elevating chickens and dwelling an everyday household life, comparatively.

September 2020: They share their new Netflix deal.

Just a few months later, The New York Times reported that the pair signed a multi-year cope with Netflix by way of their new manufacturing firm, for “documentaries, docu-series, characteristic movies, scripted reveals, and youngsters’s programming.”

“Our focus shall be on creating content material that informs but in addition provides hope,” the couple stated in an announcement. “As new dad and mom, making inspirational household programming can also be essential to us.”

November 2020: Meghan publicizes she had a miscarriage.

In an essay for The New York Occasions, Meghan revealed she had a miscarriage over the summer season.

“After altering his [Archie’s] diaper, I felt a pointy cramp. I dropped to the ground with him in my arms, buzzing a lullaby to maintain us each calm, the cheerful tune a stark distinction to my sense that one thing was not proper,” she wrote. “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn little one, that I used to be shedding my second.”

December 2020: They strike a cope with Spotify.

Meghan and Harry signed a multi-year cope with the music and podcast streaming large, by way of their firm Archewell Audio, named after their son.

“What we love about podcasting is that it reminds all of us to take a second and to actually hear, to connect with each other with out distraction,” Harry and Meghan stated in a statement. “With the challenges of 2020, there has by no means been a extra essential time to take action, as a result of after we hear one another, and listen to one another’s tales, we’re reminded of how interconnected all of us are.”

Meghan’s present Archetypes begins airing in 2022 and is an instantaneous hit.

February 2021: Meghan is pregnant once more.

The couple shared one other picture by way of a buddy of their new expectation, this time a daughter.

On Valentine’s Day, they stated in an announcement to US Weekly, “We will affirm that Archie goes to be a giant brother.”

March 2021: They sit down for a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a particular tell-all interview about their resolution to step again as royals and what their lives have been like within the palace.

The couple made some big revelations through the sit-down, together with Meghan detailing the racism she skilled within the U.Ok. and that somebody within the royal family made feedback on their future kid’s pores and skin coloration. Meghan additionally mentioned her psychological well being struggles whereas coping with the pressures of royal life. She recalled that at one level, she “simply didn’t wish to be alive anymore.” Harry additionally stated he felt “actually let down” by his father, King Charles, and that his relationship along with his brother, Prince William, “is house, in the intervening time.”

June 2021: Meghan and Harry welcome Lilibet.

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on June 4, and named in honor of her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who was lovingly known as Lilibet by household. Her center identify was clearly supposed to honor Harry’s mom, Princess Diana. They name their youngest Lili for brief.

June 2022: They return to the U.Ok. for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

After a number of years away, and a few back-and-forth over issues of safety for the household, Meghan and Harry returned to the U.Ok. to rejoice the Queen’s seventieth yr as a monarch, her Platinum Jubilee.

September 2022: The couple returns to Windsor Fortress once more following the Queen’s passing.

The household gathered collectively as soon as extra at Windsor following the Queen’s dying in September 2022. After rumors of frosty relations between Harry and his brother Prince William, the 2 brothers have been seen with their wives greeting mourners and surveying the tributes left within the Queen’s honor.

December 2023: Harry and Meghan launch their Netflix documentary sequence, detailing their love story.

Harry and Meghan spoke about their first date, engagement, and wedding at size for the primary time, together with what led them to step back from their senior royal household roles.

Harry acknowledged he might by no means obtain an apology from his household or the establishment for all that occurred. “And I’ve needed to make peace with the truth that we’re most likely by no means going to get a real accountability or a real apology. My spouse and I, we’re transferring on. We’re targeted on what’s coming subsequent.”

“There’s occasions after I’ve been indignant, however I can’t be that indignant as a result of I genuinely really feel that I, and we, are precisely the place we’re presupposed to be,” he added within the final episode’s ultimate minutes. “We’ve made it to the opposite facet.”

January 2023: Harry releases his memoir Spare, sharing extra element about his and Meghan’s love story and relationship with the royal household.

Notably, Harry details Kate’s icy reception to Meghan from the very starting. He wrote that Kate was probably “on edge,” understanding that she was now “going to be in comparison with, and compelled to compete with, Meg.”

March 2023: Harry says his relationship with Meghan led him to turn into extra alarmed by the royal household’s coverage of “by no means complain, by no means clarify” with the British press.

In late March 2023, Harry returned to the UK to seem in court docket for the authorized case he and several other different public figures have been waging towards Related Newspapers Ltd (ANL), that are the publishers of British tabloids The Day by day Mail and Mail on Sunday. In a witness assertion, by way of People, he mentioned how his relationship with Meghan Markle led him to turn into extra involved in regards to the tabloids’ therapy of them.

The press’s therapy of Meghan made him “more and more troubled by the [royal family’s] strategy of not taking motion towards the press within the wake of vicious persistent assaults on, harassment of and intrusive, generally racist articles regarding Meghan,” he stated within the assertion. He famous the “the state of affairs bought worse” when Meghan was pregnant with their first little one Archie.

Harry said that this declare is “not nearly me. I’m bringing this declare as a result of I really like my nation and I stay deeply involved by the unchecked energy, affect and criminality of Related. The proof I’ve seen reveals that Related’s journalists are criminals with journalistic powers which ought to concern each single one among us. The British public should know the total extent of this cowl up and I really feel it’s my responsibility to show it.”

June 2023: The couple finish their Spotify deal.

In June, Meghan and Harry ended their cope with Spotify and their Archewell Audio division introduced that they “have mutually agreed to half methods and are pleased with the sequence [Meghant’s Archetypes] we made collectively.”

A supply speaking to Folks shelp a part of it was the podcast manufacturing at Spotify, and a part of it was personality-based.

“What works in podcasting is authenticity and intimacy and revealing issues both about your self or a couple of subject that claims one thing that [listeners] haven’t actually considered,” the insider stated. “None of that occurred. And Meghan wasn’t ready to try this, as a result of she lives an extremely guarded life.”

One other supply near Archetypes’ manufacturing stated that Meghan and Harry “got no formal lay of the land to kick issues off, in order that they have been already on unsteady footing even earlier than the ink was dry.”

“Issues moved very slowly on each ends,” the supply stated. “It was uncommon to have a direct dialog with them, so all the things needed to circulation by way of one million center individuals.”

One other supply informed Us Weekly that Meghan and Harry are “regrouping.”

“They wish to work out how they will greatest increase the leisure facet of issues,” they stated, including that the couple felt “snubbed” by Emmys voters when their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan acquired no nominations.

July 2023: Break up rumors flow into.

Gossip outlet DeuxMoi, and tabloid Radar Online, started alleging that Meghan and Harry have been “taking time aside.”

One supply informed Radar, “The Sussexes are beneath large monetary stress to fund their lavish California way of life, together with their $14 million mansion and large safety prices. That stress coupled with their emotional points has probably made life a dwelling hell. Taking time aside on completely different continents will hopefully assist them discover no matter they should transfer on.”

However Page Six spoke to a supply who stated, “It’s not true, it’s actually made up.”

The rumors have been apparently very annoying to the couple, and a supply informed Us Weekly that Harry and Meghan have been complaining in regards to the media’s therapy of them since their Spotify deal ended.

“It appears to be one assault after one other today, with individuals lining as much as take low cost photographs at them,” one supply stated. “Fairly frankly, each she and Harry are sick and bored with it.”

One other supply stated they’ve “a ton of thrilling issues within the pipeline. [They’re] prepared to return again stronger.”

August 2023: Issues are nice regardless of break up rumors.

The pair are “actually pleased collectively” in California, based on a supply talking with People.

“They appeared actually pleased collectively,” the household insider stated. “Harry appears to be embracing this life he has with Meghan and is aware of it’s a really completely different one than he had earlier than, in fact.”

They added, “Meghan does appear to run the family and make the selections, nevertheless it’s not that he bends for her. It’s only a dynamic that works for them, and perhaps one which he wants after all the things he’s been by way of.”

September 2023: They actually loved the Beyoncé live performance.

The couple attended Beyonce’s live performance on the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood over Labor Day Weekend. They shared a personal field with Meghan’s mom Doria Ragland and buddy Abigail Spencer. The group was wearing silver, per the singer’s request for her birthday. Meghan wore a glowing pencil skirt and white crop prime and Harry had on a silver blazer.

Followers filmed the couple dancing collectively earlier than Meghan hugged Harry shut for a kiss. She then continues dancing with an arm round him affectionately.

Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and extra. Her first e book, The Lonely Hunter, shall be launched by Dial Press in February 2022.