Meghan Markle, Cory Vitiello Nearly Got Married, Split Due To Pasta Recipe

Meghan Markle and Cory Vitiello had dated for almost two years before she met Prince Harry.

The "Suits" actress and the Canadian celebrity chef were in a relationship for over a year. Their romance started a year after she split from ex-husband Trevor Engelson and ended weeks before she met Prince Harry. Markle was very open about her fondness for Vitiello. His family, in particular, his mom, also loves Prince Harry's fiancée.

"She was very interested in being with the people she was with. She had a good sense of humour, and she's very personable. We certainly enjoyed the conversations we had with her. It was all lovely when we were with Meghan," Vitiello's mother told David Jones.

"It was serious. They were living together in the house, and they were in their 30s, so they weren't young kids," Vitiello's mom said about their romance.

"They [Markle and Vitiello] began an intense relationship that would last for almost two years, causing many in their circle to believe it would lead to the altar," Jones wrote in another article.

However, Markle's "prima-donna-like behaviour" would embarrass Vitiello. But the final straw of their relationship happened at a dinner party.

The guests praised their inventive main course of pasta with courgette spirals that Markle reportedly claimed was her recipe when it was actually Vitiello's. The said incident triggered some observers to believe that their romance was over.

"I've got a lot of respect for Meghan and, from my end, to make it seem like I'm part of the story [of her elevation into the ranks of royalty] would seem self-serving and opportunistic," Vitiello said when asked about the issue.

"I'm pleased for Meghan. She's a great girl. There is no bitterness. I respect people's private and personal lives, and although she has put herself in the public spectrum, I still hold to that," he continued.

The hunky chef added that he was not expecting an invite to Prince Harry and Markle's royal wedding. However, he admitted that he was interested to witness the event on television.

"Listen, I'll be interested as much as anybody else, as an old friend of Meghan," Vitiello said.

In related news, according to Andrew Morton's book "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess," Markle ended her marriage with Trevor Engelson "out of the blue." In fact, their friends were not expecting it.

"A wealthy entrepreneur friend claimed the marriage ended so abruptly that Meghan sent her wedding and engagement rings back to Trevor by registered post," Morton wrote. "Another confirmed that the decision to end the marriage was made by Meghan and that it had come 'totally out of the blue.'"

Meanwhile, Markle's childhood best friend, Ninaki Priddy, confessed that she was also shocked when the two split. She was very disappointed with the "Horrible Bosses" actress that they had a fallout.

"What came to light after Trevor and I spoke ended my friendship with Meghan. I think everybody who knew them both was in shock," Priddy said. "All I can say now is that I think Meghan was calculated, very calculated, in the way she handled people and relationships. She is very strategic in the way she cultivates circles of friends."