How did Joseph Giuliano first meet Meghan Markle?
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Executive summary
There is no credible, contemporaneous account showing how Joseph (Joe/Joseph Goldberg-) Giuliano first met Meghan Markle; the story appears to come from tabloid reports and social-media rumor threads rather than verifiable reporting [1] [2]. Major summaries of the claim trace it to National Enquirer-type coverage and online speculation, but available sources say the marriage/meeting remain unproven and disputed [1] [3].
1. Origin of the claim: tabloids and threads, not a primary source
The narrative that Meghan Markle had an earlier marriage to a man identified as Joseph Goldberg‑Giuliano was popularized through tabloid outlets and recycling on social platforms rather than through first‑hand reporting; The List notes the story’s roots in a National Enquirer report that resurfaced on X/Twitter [1], and Enstarz documents the same rumor traffic on Quora and other social sites [2].
2. What proponents say about a meeting and relationship
Online posts and paraphrased tabloid copy assert that Markle and a lawyer named Joe or Joseph Giuliano either dated or were secretly married and that they met at some point prior to her marriage to Trevor Engelson, with some social‑media users pointing to alleged photos and family resemblance as “evidence” [2] [1]. Those accounts typically treat the meeting as a fait accompli but do not provide verifiable contemporaneous witnesses, dates, or reliable primary documents establishing how they met [2] [1].
3. Counterclaims and factual gaps in the record
Attempts to substantiate the rumor have repeatedly come up empty: at least one summary of the controversy highlights that public records and more rigorous reporting do not substantiate a marriage or the alleged first husband, and some outlets explicitly say Meghan Markle never married Joe Giuliano [3]. The sources available for this analysis do not produce primary documents, named eyewitness testimony, or independent confirmation that would explain how the two would have met [3] [1].
4. How social media amplified speculation about “how they met”
Speculation about the pair’s origin story has been amplified by users combing social archives and reposting purported photos and resemblance claims; Enstarz documents Quora threads and viral posts that invent specifics (age, family disapproval, alleged children) without citing verifiable records, which is how a supposed “meeting” story metastasized into a fuller—but unsupported—narrative [2].
5. Why the question can’t be answered definitively from these sources
Every source available here either repeats the rumor cycle or points out its weaknesses: tabloid repetition (The List referencing the National Enquirer) and rumor aggregation (Enstarz and various web posts) do not substitute for contemporaneous reporting or public records showing a meeting, a date, or a relationship contract; therefore the evidence is insufficient to assert any specific way that Joseph Giuliano first met Meghan Markle [1] [2] [3].
6. Alternative explanations and the journalistic standard
Given the provenance of the claim—tabloids, anonymous online threads, and secondary listicles—responsible reporting requires treating the “how they met” question as unverified: one alternative is that the name and narrative are conflated or fabricated by rumor merchants; another is that if any acquaintance existed, it has not been documented publicly in a verifiable way, a distinction noted by a source that flatly states Markle never married Giuliano [3] [1].
7. Bottom line
There is no reliable, sourced account that explains how Joseph Giuliano and Meghan Markle first met; the available material consists of tabloid-originated claims and social‑media speculation that have not been corroborated by public records or authoritative reporting, so any specific description of their first meeting would be unsupported by the cited sources [1] [2] [3].