Prince Harry secretly proposed to Meghan Markle months before their official announcement, claims new book

(Image credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas - WPA Pool/Getty Images/Future)

published 2 October 2022

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in November 2017 but a new book has claimed that Harry secretly got down on one knee months before.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in 2017 after meeting on a blind date the set-up by a mutual friend the year before
But a new book has now claimed that Harry proposed to Meghan in secret, months before the official announcement, around a year after they got together
In other royal news, Meghan Markle has shared Archie’s heartwarming after pre-school ritual

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in 2018, no one could have predicted what the coming years would hold for the pair. After meeting on Friday the 1st July 2016 on a blind date set-up by a mutual friend, the budding couple spent the evening at Soho House's Dean Street Townhouse and 16 months later, on the 27th of November, announced their engagement to the world.

A royal statement shared the happy news alongside a picture of the beaming pair in the garden at Kensington Palace. The Palace's announcement read, "His Royal Highness and Ms. Markle became engaged in London earlier this month. Prince Harry has informed Her Majesty The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince Harry has also sought and received the blessing of Ms. Markle's parents."

However, a new book has now claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were engaged in secret, months before their big public announcement, but did not want anyone to know.

According to Valentine Low's new book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, which is available for pre-oder on Amazon now, the couple got engaged around four months before the announcement, meaning the pair would have been dating for less than a year when Harry asked the actress to be his wife.

In the book, Low discusses Meghan's interview with Vanity Fair that took place in October of 2017, stating that Meghan had already agreed to marry Harry when she appeared on the magazine's cover to confirm they were dating.

She writes, "The interview was, in effect, Meghan’s big launch. The couple were not officially engaged — though everyone in Kensington Palace knew they had been privately engaged since the late summer — but this was Meghan putting herself out there in a confident, pro-active way."

Prince Harry designed Meghan's engagement ring himself, including two diamonds which belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, as was confirmed in the happy couple's engagement announcement.

The pair got married on Saturday the 19th of May, 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle while 49.1 million viewers across the globe tuned in to see them exchange vows.

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.