November 2017

Prince Harry and Kate Middleton are engaged!

Prince Harry and fiancée Kate Middleton share the romantic details of their proposal! They detailed everything from how Harry got down on one knee to why Kate didn't let him finish the big question.

In a history-making announcement, Clarence House said Monday that Prince Harry, 33, and his girlfriend, 36-year-old Middleton, are engaged and will wed in the spring.

The news comes after the couple made their first appearance together at an official public event - Harry's Invictus Games in Toronto - in September.

Dressed casually and looking happy and relaxed with each other, the two held hands and talked animatedly to each other as they sat on the sidelines of a wheelchair tennis match.

Harry and Middleton have been dating for more than two years, but for the first six months, hardly anyone knew. They had managed to avoid all but the most persistent paparazzi but their appearance at the Games - and the media photos that followed - made plain their relationship had reached a new level. That, in turn, set off feverish speculation in the media about their future.

After months of speculation, Prince Harry and Kate officially announce their impending status as newlyweds. Harry is said to have popped the question in October while on holiday. He gives Kate the same oval sapphire ring his father gave to Princess Diana.

Kate Middleton today spoke of the "daunting prospect" of joining the royal family as she and Prince Harry announced they would get married next year.

Wearing the blue sapphire and diamond engagement ring that the prince's father gave to Princess Diana in 1981, Middleton said "hopefully, I will take it in my stride", while adding that her future husband was "a great teacher".

Prince Harry said the ring "was very special to me" as was his bride-to-be. Giving it to her was "my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today" and the excitement that the couple were going spend their lives together.

Middleton said, during a brief press conference and photocall at St James's Palace, London, that the prince had been "a true romantic", was "a loving boyfriend" and "very supportive of me in good times and also through the bad times".

Prince Harry said of their engagement: "The timing is right now, we are both very, very happy. We both have a very good sense of humour and we take the mickey out of each other a lot."

He added that Middleton had "plenty of habits that make me laugh that I tease her about".

The formal statement said Harry's father, Prince Charles, was "delighted".

Speaking at his Poundbury model village in Dorset, Charles said that he was "thrilled, obviously", and joked: "They have been practising long enough ... it makes me feel very old."

Harry's stepmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, on her way to an official engagement at the Apollo Theatre in London, told a wellwisher: "It's brilliant, isn't it? It's absolutely wonderful."

Middleton's parents, Michael and Carole, were "thrilled". Her father Michael, reading a statement outside their home near the Berkshire village of Bucklebury, said they had got to know the prince very well: "We all think he is wonderful and we are extremely fond of him. They make a lovely couple, they are great fun to be with, and we've had a lot of laughs together. We wish them every happiness for the future."

Earl Spencer, the prince's uncle and brother of Princess Diana, said: "It's wonderful news. Very exciting. My family are all thrilled for them both."

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were also "absolutely delighted", Buckingham Palace said. During a reception this afternoon at Windsor Castle for leaders of British overseas territories including Bermuda, Montserrat and the Falklands Islands, the Queen told a guest who congratulated her: "It is brilliant news. It has taken them a very long time."

Political leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, echoed the sentiment.

Full details of the wedding plans have yet to be announced. The statement said only that the wedding would take place in London next spring or summer.

St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey are possible venues, although both have painful resonances - St Paul's was where Charles's ill-fated wedding to Princess Diana took place in 1981, while the abbey hosted Diana's funeral in 1997.

Harry and Kate have known each other for eight years, and met through Harry's brother and sister in law, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Middleton is eldest of three children in a family whose fortune is based on a mail-order children's party accessories business.

The prime minister, David Cameron, said the whole country would join him and his wife, Samantha, in wishing the couple "great joy".

Later, he said that he had spoken to the prince to pass on his congratulations and predicted "a great day of national celebration".

The prime minister told a press conference at Downing Street that it felt "great to have a bit of unadulterated good news", and said a cheer had gone up when he told ministerial colleagues at today's Cabinet meeting.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said via the social network Twitter: "Delighted for Prince Harry and Kate Middleton on their engagement. The whole country will be wishing them every happiness."