The public is looking even more into the love story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In the Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” released Dec. 8, the couple shared more details about their intimate proposal in 2017 after dating for about a year. “I wanted to do it sooner,” Harry said, explaining that he waited to ask his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, for his blessing.
After asking the Queen, Harry proposed to the UK, as he and Meghan tried to roast a chicken on a cozy night. “I popped a bottle of champagne while she greased the chicken, and it kinda betrayed the game,” Harry recalled. “She was like, ‘You don’t drink champagne, what’s the occasion?'”
Although it was uncertain whether Meghan would say yes, Harry had his dog, Guy, as his partner in crime. “She had already moved Guy. So I had Guy hostage,” he joked. “He was on stilts so he couldn’t run away.” Harry then proposed in the North Garden of Kensington Palace with Guy by his side, 15 electric candles and the ring he designed himself, which has a large diamond in the center and two small Princess Diana stones from each side.
When asked if he had taken a knee, Harry cheekily replied “dog down”, much to Meghan’s delight. “Of course I got down on my knees. Of course I did,” Harry said. Meghan added: “He was on one knee and I was like, ‘Yeah!’ We were so happy and excited.” She said, “I was like, ‘Ah, we’re doing this.'”
The engagement was announced a few weeks later to the press, but Meghan and Harry celebrated privately with a onesie-themed engagement party. “Everyone was dressed in animal suits,” said Lucy Fraser, a friend of the couple. “Meg and Harry wore matching penguin jumpsuits because penguins mate for life, and they were so sweet. And we had so much fun.”
According to Harry, it didn’t take long to realize it was Meghan. “I fell head over heels in love with her. Because my heart told me that it was with her that I was going to spend the rest of my life. And then once I got to know her even more, my head then said, ‘Well, she’s absolutely perfect for the role as well,'” he said in the second episode of the docuseries. “As far as Meghan was concerned, it was, I suppose, a case of finding a needle in a haystack.”
— Additional reporting by Perri Konecky