Follow all the reaction after Clarence House announced that the couple are to marry in spring 2018
- Full report: Prince Harry to marry Meghan Markle
- ‘Wave of abuse’: how the couple endured unwelcome media scrutiny
What a day. You can read the full report by the Guardian’s Robert Booth here:
Related: Prince Harry 'thrilled' after announcing he is to marry Meghan Markle
The Prince of Wales has announced the engagement of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle. pic.twitter.com/rtlAnFCWTf
Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle are "thrilled and happy" to be engaged. pic.twitter.com/HBz30SbZVE
Related: Share your reaction to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's engagement
Actor Patrick J Adams, who plays Markle’s on-screen partner in the TV show Suits, has joked he feels cheated by the engagement.
Adams also sent his best wishes to the couple, and said Prince Harry is a “lucky man”.
Playing Meghan’s television partner for the better part of a decade uniquely qualifies me to say this: Your Royal Highness, you are a lucky man and I know your long life together will be joyful, productive and hilarious. Meghan, so happy for you, friend. Much love.
Still nothing from Donald Trump, but not everybody has managed to get their congratulations message right.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has apologised to the couple and the Duke of Cambridge after sending her congratulations to the wrong prince. The message also mis-spelt Ms Markle’s first name.
Apologies to TRHs Princes William & Harry for tweet error on my account earlier. I stopped tweeting personally a long time ago. Genuine typo by a member of staff. Guilty of tweeting too fast. There goes any chance of an invite!! :-) AF
You can now watch the full interview here:
Prince Harry said Meghan and his late mother, Princess Diana, would have been “thick as thieves”.
I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me, but then, as I said, she would have probably been best friends – best friends with Meghan.
You know, it is days like today I really miss having her around and miss being able to share the happy news. But, you know, with the ring and with everything else that’s going on, I’m sure she’s with us.
When asked about the ring, which is decorated with diamonds from Princess Diana’s collection, Markle said:
The inclusion of that and, obviously not being able to meet his mom, it’s so important to me to – to know that she’s a part of this with us.
I think in being able to meet his aunts... and different people who were so important to his mom, I’m able to, in some way, know a part of her through them and of course through him.
Dogs came up a lot in the big interview.
Prince Harry said the Queen’s corgis took to Markle straight away.
I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at, this one walks in, absolutely nothing...
[The corgis were] just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet.
Well I have two dogs that I’ve had for quite a long time, both my rescue pups. And one is now staying with very close friends and my other little guy is – yes he’s in the UK, he’s been here for a while.
Markle revealed the prince designed the ring he gave her.
Harry said:
The ring is yellow gold because that’s her favourite, and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother’s jewellery collection to make sure that she’s with us on this – on this crazy journey together.
Here’s a quick dispatch from my colleague Robert Booth:
Meghan Markle has described as “disheartening” and “discriminatory” some of the media coverage she received as Prince Harry’s girlfriend because it centred on her racial background.
Markle said meeting the Queen was “incredible”.
“To be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honour and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me,” she said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been speaking to the BBC’s Mishal Husain about their relationship.
The couple revealed they met on a blind date after being matched by a friend. The prince had “never even heard of” Markle before the date, but said he was “beautifully surprised” when he met her.
Just under five minutes until the BBC airs its interview with the couple.
Nigel Farage, look away now. Meghan Markle appears to be a remainer.
On 2 July last year, thousands protested against the Brexit vote in central London. Meghan Markle seems to have been among them. That day, she posted a photo on Instagram showing a sign reading: “If EU leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me.”
If EU leave me now... #brexit #parliament #referendum #London
Still no word from the US president but Justin Trudeau in Canada has offered his sincere congratulations.
Markle has a connection with Canada as Suits is filmed in Toronto and she has lived there as a result. Additionally, Harry and Markle’s first public appearance as a couple was at the Invictus Games in the city.
Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau offre ses sincères félicitations et ses meilleurs vœux au prince Harry et à Meghan Markle. https://t.co/YxOg3KjyNi
Here is a video the Guardian has made about Meghan Markle:
Their marriage will bring into reality what the British establishment lacked the imagination to even conceive of as possible 17 years ago – that a senior royal can love, and marry, someone whose ethnic heritage is not just different to his own, but the heritage that has always been most othered in Britain – black and African.
The royal family plays a largely symbolic role in our society, so it’s the symbolism of this engagement that interests me. I struggled growing up with the feeling that the monarchy were fundamental to Britishness, but that the Britishness they represented was one that excluded me.
This is not the news people wanted to hear (not that it makes much difference to us journalists who will all have to work whatever) but Downing Street has said there are “no plans” for a bank holiday on the day of Prince Harry’s wedding.
When William and Kate were married there was a bonus bank holiday but the difference in this case is that William is a likely future king while Harry is not.
Markle’s on-screen father in Suits, Wendell Pierce, has tweeted his congratulations. He is perhaps the coolest person to have publicly offered his good wishes to date (no offence to Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Philip Hammond, Fearne Cotton, Ronan Keating etc). Pierce, who plays Robert Zane in Suits and was also Bunk in the Wire, wrote:
Congratulations to my TV daughter Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on the news of their wedding engagement. Harry you have her TV Father’s blessing. Robert Zane approves @Suits_USA
The ring, like the outfit, is a self-assured choice, with three diamonds and no coloured stones. This differs from Diana’s sapphire ring, worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, and Sarah Ferguson’s ruby ring.
The current fashion is for diamond engagement rings. But it’s very traditional as well.
Stephen Bates, formerly religious and royal correspondent of the Guardian, writes that Meghan Markle is not so different from royal brides in days of yore, and that the Windsors have become accustomed to the intrusive publicity that accompanies such events.
Time moves on, and although we can expect much comment on Markle’s acting career, her Americanness, mixed heritage, even before getting to speculation about how to become a first-time mother in your late 30s – such things are novel these days neither to most families, nor even to the royal family.
It is thought that George III’s long-suffering wife, Charlotte, who had a German background, may also have may have had mixed-race ancestry. And their son the Duke of Clarence – later William IV – lived with the Irish actor Dorothea Jordan for 20 years and had 10 children with her, until he was reminded that he might become king one day and if he wanted a royal pension he ought to find a more suitable wife. He ditched her for the minor German princess Adelaide, who was 30 years his junior ...
Prince Harry designed the ring that Markle showed off to photographers this afternoon, using diamonds that belonged to his mother, Princess Diana.
The two outside stones came from the late princess’s personal collection, with the centrepiece a large diamond from Botswana. The country holds special significance for Harry who has visited many times since he was a child and is a place where the couple have spent time together over the past year and a half, Kensington Palace said.
Will Meghan Markle, an American national, need to apply for a visa to join her soon-to-be spouse in the UK? Downing Street declined to comment to reporters who asked the question at this morning’s lobby briefing and directed the question to the House Office.
The Home Office “does not comment on individual cases” but pointed the Guardian towards the rules for family visas, which are needed if you wish to remain in the UK with your spouse or fiance.
Hysteria ensues.
Still no word from Trump.
He’s sent three tweets in the last 45 minutes. Washington DC is five hours behind UK time.
Here’s a few more pictures of the happy couple in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace:
Here’s a close up picture of the engagement ring – and it’s a biggie.
A large media crowd has gathered outside Kensington Palace, the dormitory for the younger royals, with royal fans also gathered politely out of the view of the cameras.
At one point a cheer went up from a crowd gathered by the fence of the palace when the couple apparently appeared briefly in the grounds.
Tony Appleton, self appointed town crier from Chelmsford, Essex, is among the royal fans outside Kensington Palace pic.twitter.com/5hf9vmfue1
Ring update here from ITV’s royal editor:
We have just been told Meghan’s ring made from 3 stones: one from Botswana (where couple holidayed recently) and 2 diamonds from his mother Diana’s personal collection
The first pictures of Harry and Meghan’s engagement photocall have landed. Here’s a selection.
Harry and Meghan have appeared for a photocall in the gardens of Kensington palace Dressed in a navy blue suit, Harry appeared holding Meghan’s hand. She was dressed in a white overcoat.
Assembled reporters shouted questions at the couple. Asked how he proposed, Harry replied: “That will come later.”
Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s head of newsgathering, has confirmed Harry and Meghan will be interviewed by Mishal Husain on behalf of all broadcasters, and it will air at 6pm.
To confirm, @MishalHusainBBC will interview Prince #Harry& #MeghanMarkle today on behalf of all broadcasters. See it across @BBCNews, 6pm.
He has yet to tweet today, and the prolific social media ranter Donald Trump faces a dilemma.
The UK Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, wished Harry and Meghan well, after party members booed when reporters asked him about the engagement.
After he gave a speech in Glasgow, Corbyn ignored the booing by activists and said: “I wish them well, I hope they have a great time and great fun together, and having met Harry a couple of times I’m sure they’re going to have a great deal of fun.”
Details of the venue and timing of the wedding are expected to be released on Tuesday with aides only saying it will be “a happy church wedding”.
Harry is understood to have told his close staff two weeks ago that he wanted to make the engagement public today and planning has been under way since then. The couple got engaged this month in London.
The delay in making the announcement was partly due to Markle needing to finish filming on Suits, which she did the week before last. The pair are due to give a broadcast interview this evening after posing for photos this afternoon outside Kensington Palace, where they will live in the two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage.
You can share your joy at the royal engagement, or frustration at its domination of the news agenda, elsewhere on the Guardian website.
Related: Share your reaction to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's engagement
Given that Markle is not a UK citizen, assuming the normal rules reply, she will have to get a visa to get married in Britain.
The Press Association says:
The rule is that all non-European nationals must obtain a visa if they want to come to the UK in order to marry. Markle could apply for a family visa if she wants to live with fiance Harry in the UK for more than six months.
Fees range from £993 to £1,583. Decisions by the Home Office can be made on the same day via the premium service or sometimes take up to 12 weeks.
When the Canadian Autumn Phillips married the Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips, she said: ‘I’m happy being Canadian and I’m proud of where I come from. So I’ll keep my passport.’
Their children, Savannah and Isla Phillips, are said to hold dual British and Canadian citizenship, which would pave the way for dual citizenship for any children Harry and his bride might have.
Outside Buckingham Palace this morning hundreds of tourists were gathered for the changing of the guard, but news of the engagement had apparently not yet filtered through. Those present had to be told of the happy news.
“I’m happy for him, that’s about it really,” said Deryck Toney, who was sightseeing while on holiday from Virginia. “I think if he’s in love with her and she’s in love with him they should go on and be married and live a happy life.”
Republic, a campaign group calling for the abolition of the monarchy, put out a statement that, in its brevity, dripped with distain.
“Congratulations,” Graham Smith of Republic said.
The tributes are pouring in.
The prime minister, Theresa May, says “this is a time of huge celebration for two people in love”.
I would like to offer my very warmest congratulations to HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle upon their engagement.
This is a time of huge celebration for two people in love and, on behalf of myself, the Government and the country, I wish them great happiness for the future. https://t.co/Sfx76X98BW
I’m absolutely delighted to hear the news that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now engaged. I wish them many years of love, happiness and fulfilment – and ask that God blesses them throughout their married life together.
HUGE congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - fantastic news! Here's to a happy and long life together https://t.co/pdaoOMv9EG
Congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness together.
Congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle! https://t.co/q12u2c60Ye
Meghan Markle will become a duchess or princess after she weds Prince Harry, the Press Association reports.
Tradition dictates that royal men receive a title when they marry, with Harry expected to become the Duke of Sussex.
Meghan Markle is an American actress best known for her role in the US TV series Suits. She rose to fame playing the law student Rachel Zane in the legal drama after parts in CSI: Miami, the sci-fi show Fringe and movies such as Remember Me and Horrible Bosses.
The 36-year-old Californian is a global ambassador for World Vision Canada and campaigns for gender equality in her role as a women’s advocate for the UN. She has her own clothing line and had a fashion and lifestyle website thetig.com.
Markle’s parents, Doria Radlan and Thomas Markle, wished their daughter and Harry “a lifetime of happiness”, adding: “We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry.
“Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents.”
Harry’s gran, the Queen, was one of the first to express her delight at the announcement.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh both said they were “delighted” for their grandson and his bride-to-be, and “wish them every happiness”.
Welcome to live coverage of the announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are engaged.
Clarence House revealed the betrothal in a brief statement. “His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms Meghan Markle,” it said.
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