They say you never truly get over your first love and that looks to be the case for Meghan Markle’s former high school classmate who says Prince Harry’s wife “toyed” with his emotions while at school. Nema Vand, a star in the reality TV show Shahs of Sunset knew Markle when the two were teens in Los Angeles and opened up on a podcast in 2020 about what the former royal was really like.
“I went to an all-boys high school, and one of our sister schools was Meghan Markle’s,” Vand said while appearing on Reality Life with Kate Casey, according to Page Six. “I grew up with her. We were friends for a long time. She was a year older than me. Meghan was amazing, a woman among girls. Everyone was in love with her. She was sweet, and very kind.”
Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In an episode of her now-cancelled podcast Archetypes she took a trip down memory lane by visiting her former high school in the city, Immaculate Heart High School, which she attended from ages 12-17.
Vand, now 39, says he “admired” Markle, 40, as a teenager but claims she was a little bit of a game player when it came to boys, or at least that’s how he interpreted it.
“She knew what she was doing,” he said. “She toyed with our hearts masterfully. We were at a party one time and she sat on my lap. She got nose to nose with me. For a 16-year-old guy, that is an emotional moment. She said to me in Farsi, ‘You are so beautiful.’ I asked her, ‘How do you know Farsi?’ She said, ‘I learned it for you.’ Then she walked away.”
“I like to hope Meghan Markle is watching Shahs of Sunset, and I like to hope she tells that almost-make-out story as authentically as I do,” he joked. He also used the podcast to defend his and Markle’s mutual friend Gabe who he claims the former Suits star “really upset.” He seems to think Markle owes Gabe an apology.
“My friend Gabe that I grew up with dated Meghan in high school and he says that after she got on Suits they were friends for years, and afterwards he said she kind of ghosted him. It really hurt his feelings. I got the sense Gabe really valued her friendship. So Meghan, if you hear this, reach out to Gabe. You know who that is, and just right that ship.”
Markle has never addressed Vand’s claims but since the podcast aired she has returned home to his neck of the woods so who knows? Maybe they reconnected. Let’s hope Gabe got his justice too.