LONDON — He got down on one knee and popped the question at Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace grounds, during a cozy dinner of roast chicken at his two-bedroom bachelor pad.
She didn’t let him finish his proposal before saying yes.
The royal family on Monday announced that Britain’s Prince Harry is engaged to marry American actress Meghan Markle, ending days of feverish speculation in the tabloids over when their nuptial plans would be revealed.
The 33-year-old redheaded prince is fifth in line to the throne. The 36-year-old Markle was born and raised in California.
The prince said he tried to warn Markle what she was getting into.
She said she thought she understood.
“I know I’m in love with this girl, and I hope she’s in love with me,” the prince said in a television interview after the engagement was announced. “But we still have to sit down on the sofa — I still have to have some pretty frank conversations with her to say, look, this is what you’re letting yourself in for. It’s a big deal. I’s not easy for anybody.
“I know that at the end of the day she chooses me, I choose her, and therefore whatever we have to tackle together or individually we will always be us together as a team.”
Markle leaned into Harry: “That’s so nicely said, isn’t it?”
The two sat for a 20-minute chat with the BBC on Monday evening. The couple were poised but natural. They held hands. They finished each other’s sentences — in a good way.
It was the first time they have spoken as a couple, the first venture into this new role of a royal pair. They addressed tabloid culture, race, the legacy of Princess Diana, the ring, meeting the queen and her corgis, and Markle being a foreigner.
Markle was assertive but gushed a little.
The prince appeared a little nervous and cracked a few jokes.
“Children?” asked the BBC journalist.
“Not currently, no” Harry said, grinning. “No, of course, you know, one step at a time. Hopefully we will start a family in the near future.”
The couple will wed in the spring of next year, date and location not yet revealed.
The last time an American married into the royal family, Britain and the monarchy were plunged into crisis. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a Baltimore socialite and divorcee.
Harry confirmed he was dating the actress in November 2016, when he blasted the tabloid press for subjecting Markle to a “wave of abuse and harassment.”
The palace condemned “the…
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