Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s love for Halloween began when dating in secret — despite royal family ban

Halloween has always been a treat for Prince Harry and Meghan Meghan.

The estranged Duke and Duchess of Sussex started dating in 2016, which is also when they first celebrated All Hallows Eve.

Since then, the spooky season has become a family affair. These days the couple try to get their kids Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2, into the holiday spirit.

Had Harry and Meghan not stepped down from the British Royal Family in 2021, they would have been banned from celebrating Halloween as former Queen Victoria instituted a rule that members should “uphold total class and sophistication” at all times.

However, the duo play by their own rules and enjoy their American life far away from the royals in their Montecito, Calif. mansion.

So, let’s take a look back at their Halloween history.

2016

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle celebrated their first Halloween together by attending an apocalypse-themed party in Toronto, alongside Princess Eugenie and her husband, James Brooksbank. 

The pair stayed incognito as Harry borrowed his friend Tom Hardy’s “Mad Max” costume while Markle wore a camo tank top, ripped black shorts, and fishnet tights.

It was the duo’s last night of keeping their relationship private as they both recalled in their 2022 Netflix docu-series “Harry & Meghan.”

“And then [Prince Harry] and his brother’s Communications Secretary Jason [Knauf], called him to let him know that the story was scooped by a tabloid,” Markle remembered in the doc.

“[Prince Harry] said, ‘Well, if it’s gonna come out tomorrow, let’s go and have fun tonight.’”

“And we did,” the Duke of Sussex added, as secret pictures of the pair appeared on screen.

“It was so great,” Markle smiled. “Just silly fun.”

Harry also revisited the night in his memoir “Spare,” in which he wrote, “If that’s the Apocalypse, I thought, bring on the end of the world,” Harry wrote of her outfit.

“The party was loud, dark, drunk — ideal,” he said. “Several people did double-takes as Meg passed through the rooms, but no one looked twice at her dystopian date. I wished I could wear this disguise every day. I wished I could reuse it the next day and visit her on the set of ‘Suits.’”

2019

The royals wished their Instagram followers a happy Halloween in 2019 on their now-extinct account, which was also the first time their son Archie got to experience the spooky season.

“Wishing you all a safe and fun Halloween from our family (and our little pumpkin 🎃) to yours!” – TRH,” the post read, picturing a costume-less Harry and Meghan with amongst dressed-up individuals.

“This time last year The Duke and Duchess attended a special effects workshop while on their royal tour in New Zealand!”

2021

Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2021 where she revealed the couple’s son, Archie, wasn’t exactly in the Halloween spirit that year.

“We wanted to do something fun for the kids, and then the kids were just not into it at all,” Markle, who had recently moved with her family of four to Montecito, Calif, told DeGeneres, admitting that Archie only kept his dinosaur costume on for about “about five minutes.”

“Not even five minutes,” interjected DeGeneres, who celebrated Halloween with them. “Finally Harry talked him into putting the head on.”

Meanwhile, their daughter, Lilibet, dressed up as a skunk, “like Flower from Bambi,” as Meghan described it.