How Harry and Meghan’s Matchmaker Has Key Link to Queen Camilla

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s romance has been explored in multiple accounts since their marriage in 2018, but most thoroughly through the couple’s own media projects—namely their Netflix show and the prince’s memoir.

Though it was accepted that the couple had been introduced by a mutual friend in the summer of 2016, the identity of the friend in question wasn’t fully confirmed until Harry’s book publication seven years later.

The friend, Violet von Westenholz, is a key figure in the couple’s romantic timeline but she also has long-running family links to the royal family. These were displayed prominently on Wednesday, when her parents attended the Royal Ascot horse racing festival alongside Queen Camilla.

Here, Newsweek takes a look at how the friend credited with being Harry and Meghan’s matchmaker is linked to Queen Camilla, and what the couple said about her role in their royal romance.

Who Is Violet von Westenholz?

Violet von Westenholz is a British socialite and public relations director for the American fashion brand Ralph Lauren.

She is the daughter of Baron Piers von Westenholz, a former Olympic skier and celebrated interior decorator. The baron is currently married to his second wife, Baroness Jane von Westenholz née Leveson. Together they have three children: Piers, Violet and Victoria.

The baron is an old friend of King Charles III’s. As the head of his own antiques and interiors firm he was given the task of heading the interior redecoration of Charles’ Scottish home, Dumfries House, which is where the operations of his King’s Foundation charity are based.

The von Westenholz family would reportedly regularly join Charles, along with Prince William and Harry, on skiing vacations, and Violet and Victoria were regular fixtures among the princes’ social set.

How is Violet von Westenholz Linked to Queen Camilla?

Violet von Westenholz has a key link to Queen Camilla, not just having grown up socially around King Charles and his wife, but also in the fact that her mother, Baroness von Wetenholz holds a senior court position.

In 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the baroness had been appointed one of Camilla’s official “Queen’s Companions.”

This is a new title created for the reign of King Charles and Queen Camilla and is ostensibly a rebrand of the antiquated “Lady in Waiting” position.

There are six Queen’s Companions who regularly attend events with Camilla or are able to formally represent her at official occasions. They have been personally chosen by the queen and have longstanding social links with her dating back decades.

They include: Fiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, who was on-duty during the coronation last year; Lady Katharine Brooke; Baroness Carlyn Chisholm; Sarah Troughton; Lady Sarah Keswick; and Baroness Jane von Westenholz.

Von Westenholz was on-duty on Wednesday as she appeared in the queen’s party during the second day of the Royal Ascot horse-racing festival. The baroness took part with her husband in the carriage procession at the start of the day’s events.

What Did Harry and Meghan Say About Their First Introduction?

Though the press had identified Violet von Westenholz as the matchmaker behind Harry and Meghan’s romance around the time of their engagement in 2017, the couple initially appeared keen to protect her identity.

“We should protect her privacy and not reveal too much of that,” Meghan said of the unconfirmed mutual friend she shared with Harry during her engagement interview.

However, by 2023 when Harry published his memoir, this position was abandoned as he reflected romantically on his first becoming aware of his future wife’s existence.

“I was sitting around Nott Cott [Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace], scrolling through Instagram. In my feed I saw a video: My friend Violet. And a young woman. They were playing with a new app that put silly filters on your photos. Violet and the woman had dog ears, dog noses, long red dog tongues hanging out,” he wrote.

“Despite the canine cartoon overlay, I sat up straighter. This woman with Violet…my God.”

This was the summer of 2016, while Meghan was staying in London during a summer break in filming from her legal drama Suits. The then-full-time actress was attending the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and was dressed for the occasion by Ralph Lauren, with von Westenholz liaising.

“I sent Violet a message. ‘Who…is…this…woman?'” Harry wrote, before telling readers that she then linked him with Meghan via Instagram.

He arranged to meet Meghan for their first date in London the next day and the rest is history.