When Harry met Meghan: From first meeting to the engagement announcement
Here is a timeline of Prince Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle:
- Prince Harry visits Toronto, where American actress Meghan Markle lives, to launch the countdown to the 2017 Invictus Games in Canada.
- The pair meet in London through friends and become an item.
- News breaks that Harry is dating Ms Markle.
- The actress posts a photo of two bananas hugging on her Instagram account.
In an interview with the Vancouver Sun about her new clothing collection, Ms Markle says "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" as she talks about her future career plans. She makes no mention of her love life.
- Protective Harry attacks the media over its "abuse and harassment" of his girlfriend. Kensington Palace confirms in an unprecedented statement that they are dating and sayd Ms Markle, who is mixed race, has experienced racism, sexism and a front page smear, and is enduring attempts by members of the press to get into her home.
Kensington Palace has issued a statement this morning about the harassment currently being experienced by Meghan Markle and her family. pic.twitter.com/EuFZ4fmUIj
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 8, 2016
- The prince carries out his first public engagement since Kensington Palace confirmed they were an item, when he joins his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey at the Field of Remembrance.
- Ms Markle is spotted in London amid unconfirmed reports she is enjoying her first stay at Kensington Palace since the relationship was made public.
- Harry is back on royal duties as he arrives in Antigua and Barbuda for a 15-day official tour of the Caribbean.
- The prime minister of Antigua publicly invites the blushing prince to choose the island as his honeymoon destination.
- As Harry's tour to the Caribbean comes to a close, Ms Markle posts a photo on Instagram of her dog Guy wearing a knitted jumper with the British national flag on it.
She is also photographed in Toronto wearing a gold chain with the letters H and M on it.
- Harry flies straight from his Caribbean tour to Toronto to be with Ms Markle, making a 1,700-mile (2,736 km) detour instead of flying to London. It raises eyebrows after contravening guidelines which discourage royal work trips, paid for by the taxpayer, being combined with personal travel.
- Harry and his girlfriend are spotted buying a Christmas tree together in Battersea Park. The tree seller says the pair seemed "totally happy, cute, couple-y - but not overly mushy and gross".
- The pair spend the evening watching the West End show The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time.
- Harry spends Christmas Day with the royals.
- Ms Markle returns to London to spend New Year's Eve with Harry.
- It emerges that Harry has whisked off Ms Markle on a romantic break to see the Northern Lights in Norway.
- Harry is back in London carrying out behind the scenes duties.
- Ms Markle reportedly meets the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte for the first time in London.
- Ms Markle travels to India on a charity trip.
- Harry and Ms Markle are spotted holding hands on a date night in London amid claims she has "virtually moved in" with the prince at his two bedroom bachelor pad Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.
- The pair attend the wedding of one of the prince's best friends Tom Inskip in Jamaica, sparking more predictions Harry is about to propose.
- Ms Markle and Harry are reported to be setting up home together in a larger Kensington Palace apartment.
- Ms Markle announces she is ending her lifestyle blog thetig.com which is taken as a sign she is preparing for life as a royal.
- Harry arrives in Toronto to spend the Easter weekend with Ms Markle.
- As part of the Heads Together campaign to end stigma surrounding mental health, Harry reveals he sought counselling to deal with his grief, spent nearly 20 years "not thinking" about his mother's death and eventually got help after two years of "total chaos".
- Harry and Ms Markle are photographed kissing in public for the first time at Cowarth Park polo club in Ascot, Berkshire.
- The actress lands in London to stay with Harry. Later in the week she is spotted heading to a spa in Soho.
- Ms Markle joins Harry at Pippa Middleton's wedding reception but stays away from the church service.
- Harry goes on a five-day solo official visit to Singapore and Sydney.
- Harry admits in an interview with Newsweek magazine that he once ''wanted out'' of the royal family but decided to ''work out a role for myself''. He also suggested no royal wants to be king or queen.
- Ms Markle is reported to have been spotted trying on wedding dresses, sending rumours of an impending engagement into overdrive.
- The pair holiday in Botswana to celebrate Ms Markle's 36th birthday at a romantic hideaway overlooking the Boteti river.
- Harry marks the 20th anniversary of the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
- The engagement looks set when Ms Markle graces the cover of US magazine Vanity Fair and speaks openly about Harry for the first time, revealing: "We're two people who are really happy and in love."
- Ms Markle makes her first appearance at an official engagement attended by Harry when she attends the Invictus Games opening ceremony in Toronto, Canada - although the pair sit about 18 seats apart.
- Hand in hand and beaming with delight, Harry and Ms Markle make their first official public appearance together at Invictus's wheelchair tennis.
- Former US president Barack Obama quizzes Harry on his romance as they watch the wheelchair basketball at the Games.
- The prince is seen kissing his girlfriend on the lips inside a darkened VIP box at the Invictus closing ceremony. The pair were joined by Ms Markle's mother Doria Ragland.
- It emerges that Harry has taken Ms Markle to meet his grandmother the Queen, whose permission they need to marry. The met over afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace.
- The prince's aides are reported to have been told to start planning for a royal wedding, with senior members of the royal family asked to look at their diaries to shortlist a series of suitable weekends in 2018.
- Ms Markle's half sister Samantha Markle denies there is a rift between them, but confirms she is writing a book called The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister.
- Harry attends the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's platinum wedding anniversary party - but without Ms Markle.
- Ms Markle is spotted in London, getting a facial - prompting speculation she is preparing for an engagement announcement.
- Clarence House announces the engagement, and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh say they are "delighted for the couple and wish them every happiness."
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted for the couple and wish them every happiness. https://t.co/aAJ23uSbao
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 27, 2017
