Meghan Markle 'flirted' with golfer Rory McIlroy, book claims

Meghan Markle and Rory McIlroy reportedly enjoyed a drink together after their ice bucket encounter. Photo / Getty Images

A new book claims Meghan Markle once flirted so hard with professional golfer Rory McIlroy that her boyfriend at the time demanded to know if she was cheating.

According to Page Six, McIlroy and Markle met in August 2014 when he nominated her for the Ice Bucket Challenge (an activity that promoted awareness of the disease ALS) and she told him to come to her friend's New York apartment to dump the ice on her himself.

The ice bucket encounter has been detailed in Tom Bower's new book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, which also claims Markle and McIlroy enjoyed a drink afterwards at the golfer's hotel, and were later invited to a dinner.

Meghan Markle and Rory McIlroy pose together in 2014. Photo / Twitter

Bower writes McIlroy was "worse for wear" the following morning and his performance at a golf tournament that day showed it.

"Nevertheless, he refused to sleep as usual near the golf course to be ready the following day. Instead, he drove back to New York to see Meghan. His performance suffered," Bower writes.

Bower's book claims Markle then raved about McIlroy on her blog, The Tig, prompting her then-boyfriend, chef Cory Vitiello, to ask if she was cheating on him. Markle said her time with McIlroy was innocent, and "he believed her".

A couple of months later, Markle and McIlroy were seen enjoying dinner together in Dublin, with a newspaper gossip columnist saying she looked "smitten".

According to Bower, Vitiello again asked Markle about the nature of her relationship with McIlroy and she again insisted they were just friends.

The couple remained together until 2016, with Bower's book claiming Markle was still living with Vitiello when she went on her now famous blind date with Prince Harry in London that year.