{"id":12798,"date":"2017-11-27T16:26:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T21:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=12798"},"modified":"2017-11-27T16:26:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T21:26:04","slug":"prince-harry-meghan-markle-announce-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2017\/11\/prince-harry-meghan-markle-announce-engagement.html","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Announce Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Prince_Harry_Trooping_the_Colour_cropped\"<\/a> \"Meghan_Markle_3441\"<\/a>On Monday morning, a highly anticipated official statement reported that Prince Harry, fifth in line for the British throne, is engaged to the American actress Meghan Markle. Harry and Meghan are planning to marry next spring and have stated that they plan to live on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London after their wedding.<\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan became engaged earlier in November, but the couple delayed making an official announcement until Monday morning. Harry and Meghan began dating over a year ago, and local media outlets have been hoping desperately for proof of a proposal for some time. The U.K.\u2019s Channel 4 aired a hastily-made documentary called \u201cWhen Harry Met Meghan\u201d at the end of October, likely in hopeful anticipation of good news from the couple.<\/p>\n

Members of both the Markle and the royal family extended their official congratulations to the newly engaged couple. A statement from Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, said that they \u201care delighted\u201d by Harry and Meghan\u2019s engagement. Harry\u2019s older brother, Prince William, and his wife, Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, also offered their official congratulations and said that they were \u201cvery excited for Harry and Meghan. It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.\u201d Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, parents of the bride-to-be, said that Meghan is \u201ca kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meghan and Harry gave their first joint interview on Monday night just hours after their engagement was confirmed by Clarence House, the office of Harry\u2019s father, heir-apparent Prince Charles. During this evening broadcast, the newly engaged couple spoke about Harry\u2019s proposal at Kensington Palace\u2019s Nottingham Cottage in London. \u201cIt was just so sweet and natural and very romantic,\u201d Meghan said. \u201cI could barely let [him] finish proposing. I was like, \u2018Can I say \u2018yes\u2019 now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan also touched on the evolution of their relationship in Monday night\u2019s interview. They were introduced by a mutual friend in the summer of 2016 and went on two dates in London during July 2016. A few weeks later, Harry persuaded Meghan to join him on a trip to Botswana, Africa. \u201cWe camped out with each other under the stars,\u201d Harry said. \u201cShe came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.\u201d Meghan was officially announced as Harry\u2019s girlfriend in early November of the same year.<\/p>\n

While Meghan and Harry are thrilled to be making their engagement official, their union would have been almost unimaginable a generation ago. Meghan is mixed-race, Catholic, American and a divorcee, none of which would have been easily accepted by the royal family. Meghan and Harry\u2019s engagement shows that the royal family is modernizing, and the blessings from other royals seem to be sincere. Much of the world is cheerfully joining the United Kingdom in wishing the husband-and-wife-to-be much happiness, and everyone is waiting with baited breath for more details about the upcoming royal wedding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday morning, a highly anticipated official statement reported that Prince Harry, fifth in line for the British throne, is engaged to the American actress Meghan Markle. Harry and Meghan are planning to marry next spring and have stated that they plan to live on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London after their wedding.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3374,12,1],"tags":[3543,3542,1830,3479],"class_list":["post-12798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities","category-news","category-politics","category-television","tag-meghan-markle","tag-prince-harry","tag-royal-wedding","tag-royals"],"yoast_head":"\nPrince Harry and Meghan Markle Announce Engagement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prince Harry, fifth in line for the British throne, and Meghan Markle, American actress of \u201cSuits\u201d fame, announced their intention to get married next spring.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" 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