Meghan Markle has finally revealed the reason she and husband Prince Harry affectionally call each other “M” and “H.”
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, discussed motherhood, marriage and everything in between during an appearance on her friend and IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast, “The Jamie Kern Lima Show,” Monday.
When her pal asked her to explain how the sweet nicknames came about, the “Suits” alum recalled that the duo first started referring to each other that way during the early days of their romance.
“Probably at the beginning of us dating, when everything was in code,” she said, referring to their dating stage in 2016 when they had to keep things under wraps.
“People didn’t know we were dating for, talk about memory lane, so long ago. I mean, it’ll be our seven-year wedding anniversary soon. I couldn’t tell anyone who I was dating, and who was keeping [the secret], so I think we were just on a letter basis.”
The former actress said the nicknames soon became a way of keeping their relationship a secret — but soon became the norm and “it stuck.”
“I like it. I love nicknames,” Markle said, adding that she and Harry now use the nicknames even when they’re around their friends.
Markle first referred to the Invictus Games founder as “H” in 2019, during an official royal tour in South Africa.
Three years later, the pair both used the nicknames during their six-part Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan.”
In addition to “H,” Markle previously revealed that she has her husband’s number saved on her phone under the name “Prince Haz.”
The nickname was thought up by their mutual friend who had originally set them up.
Harry once noted the nickname is reserved for Markle alone after former “Late Late Show” host James Corden tried to use it.
“Haz? I didn’t know we were calling you ‘Haz’ now,” Corden said in 2021, to which Harry replied, “You’re not my wife.”
Still, even the name Harry is a nickname — as the “Spare” author was christened Henry Charles Albert David shortly after his birth in 1984.
Elsewhere during the interview, Markle heaped praise on her husband’s efforts in keeping their family “safe.”
“He’s just out there, just constant, like he’s just going to do whatever he can to make sure that our family is safe and protected and we’re uplifted and still make time for date nights,” she said.
“He’s also a fox. If you haven’t noticed, my husband’s very, very handsome. But his heart is even more beautiful.”
Markle added that the pair — who tied the knot in 2018 — are now enjoying the “honeymoon” stage of their relationship after being in “the trenches” for years.
“You have to imagine at the beginning, everyone has, like, butterflies,” she said. “Then we immediately went into the trenches together. Yeah, right out of the gate, like six months into dating.”
“So now, seven years later, when you have a little bit of breathing space, you can just enjoy each other in a new way, and that’s why I feel like it’s more of a honeymoon period for us now,” she added.
The couple, who fled to the UK in 2020 and have had a tumultuous relationship with the royal family since, are parents of son Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3.
