Meghan Markle Reveal How The Engagement Proposal Happened

Actress Meghan Markle is the first American to marry a British royal since the marriage of Wallis Simpson to King Edward VIII, a union so controversial that he was forced to give up the throne in December 1936 to go through with it.

In their first joint interview since they announced their engagement, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke to BBC revealing how the engagement proposal happened.

According to them, it was a “cosy night” at their shared cottage on the Kensington Palace “I think I managed to catch her by surprise,” the prince said. “It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got down on one knee” Markle added.

The two revealed that they started dating in July after they were set up on a “blind date” by a female friend. “I’d never watched ‘Suits,’” Harry said of his thoughts before that first date. “I’d never heard of Meghan before.”

Markle said she only had a distant familiarity with the royals at the time, and had just one question before the date: “Is he nice?”

They said they hit it off and really got to know each other a few months later, when Harry invited Markle to visit Botswana with him. “We camped out with each other under the stars,” Harry said.

Markle said the long-distance courtship was a challenge, as was the sudden media spotlight that came with publicly dating a prince. She says she tried to avoid the headlines, including criticism over her ethnicity.

“It’s a shame that that is the climate in this world, to focus that much on that. At the end of the day I’m really just proud of who I am and where I come from” Markle said.