The Duchess of Sussex’s U.K. hairstylist George Northwood opened up about what it’s really like to work with her. The Salon owner, who worked with Meghan Markle for over two years, provided Grazia Daily UK with amazing insight into being on team Sussex. From traveling with her and Prince Harry on royal tours to getting a lovely birthday surprise from the pair, George remembers his time with the Duke and Duchess incredibly fondly, and his stories are worth reading.

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“I was nervous before I met Meghan,” George, who’d never had a royal client, admitted. Luckily, Meghan and Harry were “very grounded and easy to talk to” from the get-go. The stylist also added that he and Meghan “had some common ground in my passion for southern California.”

As time passed, George said his bond with the Sussexes only strengthened. “You really feel like you‘re part of their team,” he said. “What they stand for is so strong and inspiring, and they’re genuinely such kind people who really want to do good, so that rubs off a little bit – you feel part of something exciting.”

Another highlight from his experience was Meghan and Harry’s birthday surprise for him. “My favorite memory has to be when they frightened me half to death jumping out at me on my birthday,” he told the publication. “It was such a silly moment but so sweet that they wanted to surprise me. Meghan has a great sense of humor so we would always be in fits of giggles, but there would be these really surreal moments where we would sit thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’”

Elaborating on those dreamlike instances, he added: “We would be sat in the dressing room like, ‘You’re the Duchess of Sussex, I’m your hairdresser and you’re going to walk out that door and be the most photographed woman in the world in a minute.’”

“We worked together for two years,” he said, “and I hope to continue whenever she‘s back in the UK – collaborating to create the effortless cool buns that she wears as well as the sleek, polished hair.” George noted that: “It’s funny, because her hair often looks so effortless but she’s actually the most thoughtful person, even down to the smallest detail like her jewelry.”