Meghan Markle Shares Rare Selfie from Second Date with Prince Harry

Meghan shared a sweet selfie with Harry on Friday, July 4, offering a glimpse into a cherished tradition the couple has followed every Independence Day since their second date. The 43-year-old Duchess of Sussex posted the selfie — showing her cuddled up next to a beaming 40-year-old Prince Harry — along with two photos of red, white, and blue Fourth of July–themed cupcakes on Instagram. “Our second date was the 4th of July 2016, and H brought me cupcakes to celebrate,” Meghan wrote in the caption. “Now, all these years later, our two children are in on the tradition. Meghan signed off with, “Happy Independence Day! May your day be as sweet as these cupcakes.” The first photo in the series shows a tray of cupcakes that she and Harry made on Friday with their two children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4. The final photo reveals the cupcake Harry brought her back in 2016. A black-and-white version of the selfie was previously featured in the couple’s 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. Meghan and Harry’s second date took place at London’s Soho House — the same location as their first date, which had occurred just one day earlier. The Duke of Sussex reflected on the date and its special meaning in his 2023 memoir Spare. “She walked in wearing a pretty blue sundress with white pinstripes. She was aglow. I stood and said, ‘I bear gifts.’ A pink box. I held it forward. She shook it. ‘What’s this?’” Harry wrote. “She opened the box. Cupcakes. Red, white, and blue cupcakes, to be exact — in honor of Independence Day. I said something about the Brits having a very different view of Independence Day from the Yanks, but, oh well,” he added, noting that Meghan said the sweets “looked amazing.” After their server came and went, the pair shared a kiss. “Again, the conversation flowed, crackled. Burgers came and went, uneaten. I felt an overwhelming sense of Overture, Prelude, Kettle Drums, Act I. And yet also a sense of ending. A phase of my life — the first half? — was coming to a close,” Harry wrote about the beginning of their romance. Earlier on Friday, Meghan took to the Instagram account of her lifestyle brand, As Ever, to share more of her Fourth of July festivities. In a brief video, seemingly filmed at her and Harry’s home in Montecito, California, the Duchess is seen assembling a red, white, and blue charcuterie board. The post was simply captioned: “Happy 4th of July!” Though Harry has remained a U.K. citizen since he and Meghan stepped down from their roles as senior working members of the royal family in 2020, the prince has said he has considered becoming a U.S. citizen. “American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind, but certainly not something that is a high priority for me right now,” he told Good Morning America’s Will Reeve in February 2024, during the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025's “One Year to Go” celebration in Canada. When asked by Reeve if he was enjoying life in the U.S., the Duke of Sussex responded, “It's amazing. I love every single day.” However, Harry added that he didn’t quite feel “American.” “Do I feel American? Um, no. I don't know how I feel,” he explained.