Prince Harry had a crush on Meghan Markle for two years before they met

The Prince described Markle as his 'ideal girl'

A new documentary has revealed that Prince Harry had a crush on Meghan Markle long before they first met, after becoming a fan of the US drama Suits in which Markle plays ambitious paralegal Rachel Zane.

Harry reportedly told a friend that Markle was his 'ideal girl,' and eventually asked a mutual friend for an introduction.

The news was revealed by royal expert Kate Nicholl in the Channel 4 documentary When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Romance, set to air on UK screens on Saturday 28th October.

'He had a crush on Rachel Zane two years before he met Meghan and the reason I know is because I was having drinks with one of his friends,' Nicholl states in the documentary. 'She [Harry's friend] told me she'd been on a night out with Prince Harry. He was single at the time, so she said, "Harry, who's your ideal girl?" And he said "Meghan Markle from Suits".'

The Prince is evidently still a huge fan of the show, as he recently visited Markle on set while in Toronto for the Invictus Games, where the couple also made their first official appearance together.

According to Nicholl, the Prince eventually asked their mutual friend Markus Anderson (a consultant for Soho House) to set up an opportunity for them to meet, which happened in one of the private rooms of Soho House.

'There were about seven or eight of them altogether,' Nicholl said, 'and it was a perfect opportunity for Harry and Meghan to come together in a really informal environment and actually talk. 'She was funny, feisty, confident, and she wasn't swayed or knocked by the fact that he was Prince Harry. She thought he was terribly cute.'

Things obviously went well, as the couple have now been dating for just over a year, and are reportedly speaking about marriage plans openly with an engagement seeming to be right around the corner.

Despite being constantly in the headlines, the two have done all they can to keep their romance as private as possible. Markle has only once spoken publicly about her relationship with Prince Harry, telling Vanity Fair, 'We're two people who are really happy and in love.'

We couldn't be happier for them.