LONDON – One of the world’s most eligible bachelors is officially off the market.
Britain’s Prince Harry is engaged to American actress Meghan Markle, royal officials announced Monday.
After the announcement, Harry confessed he had long known he would propose to Markle.
“When did I know she was the one?” Harry said in response to a reporter’s question during a photo op at Kensington Palace. “The very first time we met.”
Harry proposed in the couple’s cottage on what the prince described as a “typical night.” The two were roasting a chicken when Harry got down on one knee.
Markle said the moment was “just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic.”
Markle matched Harry’s enthusiasm during the proposal, saying she didn’t even let the prince finish the question before saying “yes.”
“She didn’t even let me finish, she said, ‘Can I say yes? Can I say yes?’ … and I was like, ‘Can I – can I give you the ring?’ She goes, ‘Oh yes, the ring,'” Harry recalled.
The wedding will take place in the spring. The venue was not immediately revealed but a statement said more details would be announced “in due course.”
Harry’s brother, Prince William, married Kate Middleton in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey while his parents, Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, tied the knot at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1981.
Royal officials said Harry designed the engagement ring. It includes a diamond at its center from Botswana, a country that “holds special significance” for the prince as he’s visited it many times since he was a child. Two of the outside stones are from his late mother’s personal collection.
