- 14 hours ago
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tell us about the proposal, the ring, and her meeting with the queen
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00:01Your Royal Highness Meghan Markle, congratulations to you both.
00:06Can we start with the proposal and the actual moment of your engagement?
00:09When did it happen? How did it happen?
00:12It happened a few weeks ago, earlier this month, here at our cottage.
00:18It's a standard, typical night for us.
00:20It's a cosy night. What were we doing? Just roasting chicken?
00:24Roasting chicken. Trying to roast chicken.
00:26Trying to roast a chicken. And it was just an amazing surprise.
00:30It was so sweet and natural and very romantic.
00:35He got on one knee.
00:36Of course.
00:37Was it an instant yes from you?
00:39Yes. As a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing.
00:42I was like, can I say yes now?
00:43She didn't even let me finish. She said, can I say yes or can I say yes now?
00:45And then there was hugs and I had the ring in my finger.
00:47And I was like, can I give you the ring? And she goes, oh, yes, the ring.
00:51So, no, it was a really nice moment. It was just the two of us.
00:53And I think I managed to catch it by surprise as well.
00:57Yeah.
00:57And this is how long after you first met?
01:00It would be a year and a half?
01:02Yeah.
01:02A little bit more than that?
01:03No, just about a year and a half.
01:05Which for most people would be quite a whirlwind.
01:08Is that how it's felt to you?
01:10I don't think that I would call it a whirlwind in terms of our relationship.
01:15Obviously, there have been layers attached to how public it has become after we had a good five, six months
01:22almost with just privacy, which was amazing.
01:26But no, I think we were able to really have so much time just to connect.
01:32And we never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other, even though we were obviously doing a long
01:37distance relationship.
01:38So, we made it work.
01:41How did you first meet?
01:43Yes, we first met.
01:44We were introduced, actually, by a mutual friend who we will...
01:48We should protect her privacy.
01:49Protect her privacy, yeah.
01:50We don't reveal too much of that.
01:52But it was literally, it was through her.
01:56And then we met once and then twice, back to back, two dates in London last July.
02:03Yes.
02:03Beginning of July.
02:04And then it was, I think, about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come
02:12and join me in Botswana.
02:14And we camped out with each other under the stars.
02:18We spent coming and join me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.
02:21So, then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance
02:27to get to know each other.
02:28Yeah.
02:29But the friend who introduced you, was she trying to set you up?
02:31Yes.
02:32It was definitely a set up.
02:33It was a blind date.
02:34It was a blind date, for sure.
02:35And it's so interesting because we talk about it now.
02:38And even then, you know, because I'm from the States, you don't grow up with the same understanding of the
02:45royal family.
02:46And so, while I now understand very clearly there's a global interest there, I didn't know much about him.
02:53And so, the only thing that I had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was,
02:57I had one question.
02:58I said, well, is he nice?
02:59Because if he wasn't kind, it just didn't, it didn't seem like it would make sense.
03:03And so, we went and met for a drink.
03:07And then, I think very quickly into that, we said, well, what are we doing tomorrow?
03:11We should meet again.
03:12What are we doing tomorrow?
03:13Let's meet again.
03:13And then it was like, right, diaries.
03:15We need to get the diaries out and find out how we're going to make this work.
03:17Because I was off to Africa for a month.
03:20She was working.
03:21And we just said, right, where's the gap?
03:23And the gap happened to be in the perfect place.
03:27So, how much did you Prince Harry know about Meghan?
03:30Had you seen her on TV?
03:31No, I'd never even heard about her until this friend said, Meghan Markle.
03:36I was like, right, okay, give me a bit of background.
03:40Like, what's going on here?
03:42So, no, I'd never watched Suits.
03:44I'd never heard of Meghan before.
03:45And I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her.
03:51And there she was sitting there, I was like, okay, well, I'm going to really have to up my game.
03:56I'm going to sit down and make sure I've got a good chat.
03:59I think for both of us, though, it was really refreshing because given that I didn't know a lot about
04:05him,
04:06everything that I've learned about him, I learned through him,
04:08as opposed to having grown up around different news stories or tabloids or whatever else.
04:13Anything I learned about him and his family was what he would share with me and vice versa.
04:17So, for both of us, it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other.
04:22And was that quite refreshing for you in the way that you've been brought up, you know,
04:27with a lot of people knowing a lot about you? Was it refreshing?
04:31Or thinking they know.
04:31Or thinking they know.
04:32Exactly.
04:32Yeah, no, it was hugely refreshing to be able to get to know someone who isn't necessarily within your circle,
04:38doesn't know much about me, I don't know much about her.
04:41So to be able to start almost afresh, right from the beginning and getting to know each other step by
04:46step,
04:46and then taking that huge leap of only two dates and then going on holiday together in the middle of
04:54nowhere
04:54and showing a tent together and all that kind of stuff.
04:58It was fantastic, it was absolutely amazing to get to know her as quickly as I did.
05:04And starting a long distance relationship, you were working on Suits, you had I imagine a packed filming schedule,
05:10you've got lots of commitments of your own, how hard was it to keep things going?
05:15It was, yeah.
05:16It was just a choice, right?
05:18I think that very early on when we realised we were going to commit to each other,
05:24that we knew we had to invest the time and the energy and whatever it took to make that happen.
05:29So yes, with the filming schedule, it was not the easiest,
05:34because it of course included a lot of travel back and forth.
05:38I don't think you've had any idea what time zone you've been on for the last year and a half.
05:42No.
05:43Coming over here four days or a week and then going back and then straight into filming the next day,
05:484am wake-up calls on a Monday, straight into set, you know.
05:52Right off the plane and straight to set and just coming back and doing it again.
05:55Just trying to stay as close as possible, but on two different time zones,
05:59and five hours apart does have its challenges.
06:02But we made it work and now we're here, so we're thrilled.
06:06But in the case of your relationship, unlike for most people,
06:09there's this whole layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family.
06:14How much of a sense did you have, Megan, of the enormity of what you were getting into,
06:18what it might mean for your life?
06:20I think I can very safely say, as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in
06:26the past year and a half,
06:27I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like.
06:32I don't think either of us did that, we both said that, even though we knew that it would be...
06:35I tried to warn you as much as possible, but I think both of us were totally surprised by the
06:43reaction
06:44after the first five, six months of what we had to ourselves, of what actually happened from then.
06:49So I think you can have as many conversations as you want and try and prepare as much as possible,
06:54but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.
06:58The scrutiny?
06:59Well, all sorts.
07:00I mean, I think also because there's a misconception that because I have worked in the entertainment industry
07:07that this would be something I would be familiar with.
07:10But even though I'd been on my show for, I guess, six years at that point and working before that,
07:15I've never been part of tabloid culture, I've never been in pop culture to that degree
07:19and lived a relatively quiet life even though I focus so much on my job.
07:26So that was a really stark difference out of the gate.
07:31And I think we were just hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths
07:35that I made the choice to not read anything, positive or negative.
07:39It just didn't make sense and instead we focused all of our energies just on nurturing our relationship.
07:43On us.
07:45And some of that scrutiny, and you ended up making a very public statement about it,
07:50some of that scrutiny was centred around your ethnicity, Megan.
07:53When you realised that, what did you think?
07:56Of course it's disheartening.
07:58You know, it's a shame that that is the climate in this world to focus that much on that
08:05or that that would be discriminatory in that sense.
08:08But I think, you know, at the end of the day, I'm really just proud of who I am
08:12and where I come from and we have never put any focus on that.
08:18We've just focused on who we are as a couple.
08:21And so when you take all those extra layers away and all of that noise,
08:25I think it makes it really easy to just enjoy being together and tune all the rest of that out.
08:32But now that it is all official, Prince Harry, do you have that sense that the combination of the two
08:36of you,
08:36your different backgrounds, that you together represent something new for the Royal Family?
08:41I don't know if it's something new. I think it's, you know, for me it's an added member of the
08:47family.
08:47It's another team player as part of the bigger team.
08:50And, you know, for all of us what we want to do is be able to carry out the right
08:55engagements,
08:56carry out our work and try and encourage others and the younger generation to be able to see the world
09:01in the correct sense
09:02rather than perhaps having a distorted view.
09:07So, you know, the fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was a sort of confirmation
09:15to me
09:15that everything, all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect.
09:19It was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life.
09:25And the fact that she, I know the fact that she'll be really unbelievably good at the job part of
09:32it as well
09:33is obviously a huge relief to me because she'll be able to deal with everything else that comes with it.
09:38But, no, you know, we're a fantastic team. We know we are. And we hope to, you know, over time,
09:46try and have as much impact for the things that we care about as much as possible.
09:50I am very excited about that, yeah.
09:51And, Meghan, given your acting and the profile you had, you'd already been involved in various causes.
09:55You've been an ambassador for UN Women. What about this new role?
10:00I mean, you're going to have a bigger platform, a bigger voice. What do you want to do with it?
10:04I mean, how, can you imagine? No, I'm not a singer.
10:11I think what's been really exciting as we talk about the transition of this out of my career but into
10:17the role
10:17is that, as you said, the causes that have been very important to me I can focus even more energy
10:22on
10:22because very early out of the gate I think you realize once you have access or a voice that people
10:28are willing to listen to
10:29with that comes a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously.
10:32And at the same time I think in these beginning few months and now being boots on the ground in
10:38the UK
10:39I'm excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here,
10:44smaller organizations who are working on the same causes that I've always been passionate about under this umbrella.
10:50And also being able to go around to the Commonwealth. I think it's just the beginning of the...
10:55There's a lot to do. There's a lot to do.
10:57And it's an immense change. You're getting a new country out of it, a husband obviously, but also giving up
11:07your career.
11:08Sounds nice, isn't it? Yes.
11:10But I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change.
11:15It's a new challenge. It's a new...
11:17It's a new chapter, right? And also keep in mind, I've been working on my show for seven years.
11:23So we were very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series.
11:28And for me, once we hit the hundred episode marker, I thought, you know what?
11:32I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I've done there.
11:36And now it's time to, as you said, work as a team with you.
11:42But do you have that sense of responsibility, Prince Harry, for what you're asking Meghan to do?
11:47Of course. That sense of responsibility was essentially from day one or maybe a couple of months in
11:55when I suddenly realised actually this is, you know, I feel, I know that I'm in love with this girl
12:00and I hope that she's in love with me, but we still had to sit down on the sofa
12:03and I still, you know, I still had to have some pretty, you know, frank conversations with her
12:07to say that, you know, what you're letting yourself in for is, it is, it's a big, it's a big
12:12deal.
12:12And it's, you know, it's not, I wouldn't, it's not, it's not easy for anybody.
12:17But I know that, you know, at the end of the day, she, she chooses me and I choose her.
12:23And therefore, you know, whatever, whatever we have to tackle together or individually
12:27will always be us together as a team.
12:29So I think, I think she's capable of...
12:32That's so nicely said, isn't it?
12:33I don't know. She's capable of, she's capable of anything.
12:37And together, as I said, there's, there's a hell of a lot of stuff and work that needs doing.
12:42At the moment for us, it's going to be making sure that our relationship is always put first.
12:46But no, look, both of us have passions for, for wanting to make change, change for good.
12:53And, you know, with lots of young people running around the Commonwealth,
12:56that's where we're going to spend most of our time, hopefully.
12:58And it was really one of the first things we connected on.
13:00It was one of the first things we started talking about when we met,
13:02was just the different things that we wanted to do in the world and how passionate we were about seeing
13:08change.
13:08I think that was, that's what got date two in the books, probably.
13:14Plenty to talk about.
13:16Children?
13:17Plans?
13:18Not currently, no.
13:19No, of course, you know, I think, you know, one step at a time and hopefully we'll start a family
13:24in the near future.
13:26Have you met each other's families, I imagine?
13:29Yes, his family has been so welcoming.
13:31You've met quite a few of them, actually.
13:33I have, on both sides of his family.
13:35Mom's side as well, which has been really important to me, too.
13:37But, yes, the family has been great.
13:40And over the past year and a half, we've just had a really nice time getting to know them
13:44and progressively helping me feel a part of not just the institution but also part of the family,
13:51which has been really, really special.
13:53Trying to track them down and make sure that they're around at the same time that she's popping in
13:57without telling too many people.
13:59We've managed, we've actually done incredibly well to make sure that you've met all the key people.
14:04So does that mean a lot of the time that you've been together in this last year and a half,
14:08you've been at home a lot?
14:10Yes.
14:12We've, yeah, we had to sort of reverse the whole process.
14:17And cosy nights in, in front of the television, cooking dinner with just the two of us by ourselves in
14:22our little cottage,
14:23rather than going out for dinner and being seen in public.
14:26So we reversed the whole process, which is, it's provided different opportunities
14:31and it's made us a hell of a lot closer in a shorter space of time.
14:34That's true.
14:35Without question.
14:37So, you know, if anybody else at home is listening then maybe, you know, slow down on the dates
14:41and maybe spend more time at home.
14:42But no, it's, for us it's an opportunity to really get to know each other without other people,
14:48you know, looking or trying to take photos on their phones and all that kind of stuff.
14:51You know, with that, that comes with the job, comes with the role.
14:55But, um, where possible.
14:57Yeah.
14:57And we were able to really get to know each other that way, but also then to go and have
15:01friends over for dinner
15:02or to go to his family's tea or any of those sort of things.
15:07And even, you know, just to take the, take the time to be able to go on long country walks
15:12and just talk.
15:14We've been all over the place.
15:16Have you met the Queen?
15:16I have, yes.
15:18A couple of times.
15:18What was that like?
15:19Yes, sure, a couple of times.
15:20Um, it's incredible.
15:22I think, you know, A, to be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honor and
15:30respect for her as the monarch,
15:31but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for
15:38me
15:38so that when I met her I had such a deep understanding and, of course, incredible respect for being able
15:44to have that time with her.
15:45And, and we've had a really, she's, she's an incredible woman.
15:50And the corgis took to you straight away.
15:52That's true.
15:52For the last 33 years being barked at.
15:54This one walks in absolutely mean.
15:56Just laying on my feet during tea was very sweet.
15:59And I was just like, oh.
16:00That has to be a good sign.
16:02Speaking of dogs, have you brought yours to the UK?
16:04Uh, well, I have two dogs that I've had for quite a long time, both my rescue pups.
16:09And one is now staying with very close friends and my other little guy is, yes, he's in the UK.
16:15He's been here for a while.
16:16Okay, let's hope he adjusts well.
16:18I think he's doing just fine.
16:21What was it like introducing Megan to your father and your brother?
16:25Um, uh, what was it like?
16:29It was exciting.
16:30I mean, I, you know, I've been seeing her for a, for a period of time when I literally didn't,
16:35didn't tell anybody at all.
16:36And then William was longing to meet her.
16:39And so was Catherine.
16:40So, you know, they're being our neighbors.
16:42We managed to get, get that in a couple of, well, quite a few times now.
16:46Um, and Catherine's been absolutely, um, amazing.
16:50Wonderful.
16:50As is William as well.
16:51You know, fantastic support.
16:52And then my, my father's already had, you know, a couple of, no more than that.
16:55We had a handful of teas and meetings and, and all sorts of gatherings over, over at his place as
17:01well.
17:02So, um, no, the family together have been absolutely, um, you know, solid support.
17:07And, and my grandparents as well have been, have been wonderful throughout this whole process.
17:11And they've known for quite some time.
17:12So how they, how they haven't told anybody is, is, is again, a miracle in itself.
17:17But, um, no, the whole family have come together and, and have been a huge amount of support.
17:22They've been amazing.
17:23And Megan, your parents, do you think, you know, well, very happy for you, obviously.
17:28Do you think they have worried at all about the scale of what you're getting into?
17:32Well, I'm sure at the onset, uh, both my parents and my close friends were concerned
17:37because we got very quickly swept up in a media storm that, as I, I shared, was not part of
17:44my life before that.
17:45But they also had never seen me so happy.
17:49And, um, and I think also once my friends, excuse me, were able to, to really meet Harry and my
17:56mom,
17:57who we would spend a lot of time with, who was so much fun.
18:00Your mom's amazing.
18:01It was just, you know, it was just obvious that no matter what we were being put through,
18:08that it was just temporary and that we were going to be able to get through that.
18:13So everyone was really happy with me.
18:14He's talked to my dad a few times, hasn't been able to meet him just yet.
18:17Um, but it's all been, it's all been worth every effort.
18:21Yeah, it's been great.
18:24Um, your ring.
18:25Oh, yeah.
18:26Tell us about your ring.
18:28Um, the ring is, is obviously yellow gold because that's, um, her favourite.
18:32And the main stone itself, um, are sourced from Botswana.
18:37And the, uh, the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jury collection
18:42to make sure that she's with us on this, on this crazy journey together.
18:46Um, and...
18:47It's beautiful.
18:48And he designed it.
18:49It's incredible.
18:52Um...
18:52Yeah.
18:53Yeah.
18:53Make sure it stays on that finger.
18:55Of course.
18:56What does it mean to you, Megan, to have those stones on your finger that once belonged
19:01to Princess Diana?
19:03I, I think everything about, um, Harry's thoughtfulness is, and the inclusion of that,
19:11and obviously not being able to meet his mom.
19:14It's so important to me to, to know that she's a part of this with us.
19:19And, and I think in being able to meet his aunts and, and also to be like Julia and just
19:25different
19:25people who are so important to his mom.
19:27I'm able to, in some way, know a part of her through them and of course through him.
19:32And it's, um, it's incredibly special and, you know, to be able to have this, which sort
19:37of links where you come from and Botswana, which is important to us.
19:42And it's, uh, it's perfect.
19:44What do you think your mother would have thought of Megan or said about Megan?
19:49Oh, these days would be thick as thieves.
19:52Without question.
19:53I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down.
19:57You know, so excited for, for me.
19:59But then, as I said, would have probably been best friends, best friends with Megan.
20:03So, no, it's, I, you know, it's, it is days like, days like today when, when I really
20:08miss having her around and miss being able to share the, the happy news.
20:11But, you know, with, with the ring and with everything else that's going on,
20:13I'm sure she's, uh.
20:14She's with us.
20:15I'm sure she's with us, yeah.
20:16You know, jumping up and down somewhere else.
20:19First Harry, Megan Markle, thank you both very much.
20:22Thank you so much.
20:23Thank you very much.
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