American Princess

by Leslie Carroll

  IN EARLY NOVEMBER 2017, Harry proposed to Meghan in Nottingham Cottage. They were enjoying a routine evening in, “trying to roast a chicken,” when Harry popped the question that Meghan—and everyone who had been following their romance—had been eagerly anticipating.

  Meghan had once told Good Housekeeping magazine, “There’s nothing as delicious (or as impressive) as a perfectly roasted chicken. It’s a game changer,” and there isn’t a person on Planet Earth who would quibble with that assessment. Meghan’s recipe reportedly comes from Ina Garten, the celebrity chef from East Hampton, New York, known as the Barefoot Contessa. Called the Perfect Roast Chicken, this beginner-level recipe that landed a prince can be found online.

  About three weeks later, on November 27, the Prince of Wales released the official announcement from Clarence House.

  His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Miss Meghan Markle Are Engaged to Be Married

  His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle.

  The wedding will take place in Spring 2018. Further details about the wedding day will take place in due course.

  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.

  The couple will live at Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.

  Kensington Palace also released a statement from Meghan’s parents on official letterhead below Harry’s crest that read:

  On the announcement of their daughter Meghan Markle’s engagement to His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, Mr. Thomas Markle and Mrs. Doria Ragland said:

  “We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry. Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents.”

  “We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together.”

  William and Catherine were delighted, although their public expression of congratulations was quietly understated, in keeping with royal protocol. Released through Kensington Palace, the Cambridges’ tweet read: “We are very excited for Harry and Meghan. It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.” Will and Kate no doubt privately shared their delight with Harry over finally finding The One.

  After his formal felicitations were released, William joked that maybe this meant Harry would quit popping by Apartment 1A to raid his fridge and “stop scrounging my food, which he’s done for the last few years!”

  The Duke of Cambridge can rest easy in that regard. Meghan has undoubtedly stocked the Nott Cott kitchen with healthy food, and the couple love to cook at home, as evidenced by the most famous roast chicken dinner of the twenty-first century.

  Speaking outside London’s Foundling Museum where she had an engagement that day, Catherine said, “William and I are absolutely thrilled. It’s such exciting news. It’s a really happy time for any couple and we wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment.”

  A spokesman for Buckingham Palace on behalf of Their Majesties said, “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are delighted for the couple and wish them every happiness.”

  Harry’s proud father and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, tweeted: “We’re thrilled. We’re both thrilled. We hope they will be very happy indeed.”

  The following day, Camilla reiterated her happiness for the couple, telling a reporter, “Absolutely thrilled—it’s brilliant. And as I said, America’s loss is our gain. We’re all absolutely delighted. Sometimes in a climate where we’re surrounded by a lot of bad news, it’s a real joy to have a bit of good news for once.”

  To a royal, everyone was wild about Meghan, delighted to welcome her into the family.

  Well-wishes poured in from two governments as well.

  Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, undoubtedly pleased to be discussing something other than Brexit, issued a statement declaring: “I would like to offer my very warmest congratulations to HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle upon their engagement. This is a time of huge celebration and excitement for two people in love, and on behalf of myself, the Government, and the country, I wish them great happiness for the future.”

  Interrupting a speech at a Labour rally, Her Majesty’s Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn also congratulated the newly affianced couple. “I wish them well. I hope they have a great time and great fun together and having met Harry a couple of times, I’m sure they will have great fun together!” Corbyn went on to praise the way both Harry and William have drawn attention to mental health conditions across the United Kingdom.

  Harry’s longtime friends former U.S. president Barack Obama and the former first lady tweeted a shout-out to the prince and his American sweetheart: “Michelle and I are delighted to congratulate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their engagement. We wish you a lifetime of joy and happiness together.”

  Meghan’s Suits family quickly expressed their happiness for their costar as well. Her onscreen partner Patrick J. Adams joked on Twitter: “She said she was just going out to get some milk.”

  Wendell Pierce, who played Meghan’s father, tweeted: “Congratulations to my TV daughter Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on the news of their wedding engagement. Harry you have her TV father’s blessing. Robert Zane approves.”

  As the announcement was breaking online and on broadcast television across the globe, Harry and Meghan stepped outside for a photo op in Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden. Harry was wearing a blue suit, a white shirt, and a blue necktie, the same colors his mother wore when her engagement to his father was announced. Meghan was wrapped in a belted white trench coat from Line the Label, a Toronto brand founded in 2000 that is also a favorite with actresses Kate Bosworth and Sarah Jessica Parker. The company has since renamed that style The Meghan. Her bone suede high-heeled gillies were Aquazurra’s Matilde style.

  A few hours after the photo call, the couple returned to Nott Cott to grant an exclusive interview to the BBC’s Mishal Husain. Harry was still wearing his blue suit. Meghan looked dressy but understated in a sleeveless Nile-green sheath dress by the Italian brand P.A.R.O.S.H.

  Holding hands the entire time, as they nestled side by side on a white sofa, Meghan and Harry appeared thoroughly in love and at ease in front of the camera, even finishing each other’s sentences. Meghan often answered a question for both of them, subtly glancing to Harry before she spoke to make sure he was cool with that. As a couple, they were completely in harmony. Unsurprisingly, given Meghan’s profession, she seemed more comfortable with a live, on-camera interview. Harry has a tell when he’s a bit anxious or nervous; he places his palm protectively over his midsection.

  The spark between them was immediate, a beaming Meghan told Ms. Husain. She and Harry discussed their mutual enthusiasm for humanitarian issues at length on their first date. “One of the first things we connected on was how passionate we were about seeing change. That’s how we got ‘date two’ in the books,” she said.

  According to Harry, it led to them “very quickly” saying, “Well, what are we going to do tomorrow? We should meet again.” They both took out their “diaries” and searched for the next mutually available date in their calendars.

  Meghan disagreed with Ms. Husain’s categorization of their relationship—a year and a half prior to Harry’s proposal—as a whirlwind. The public might not have learned about their romance until later on; but for the first several months, she and Harry had been able to keep their secret and were therefore able to allow things to develop at their own natural pace.

  “Everything that I know about him I know through him, as opposed to growing up around whatever news stories or tabloids, or whatever else,” Meghan told Ms. Husain, explaining that being American, she grew up knowing very little about the royal fa
mily. So she had no preconceived notions about Harry, just as he had none about her, having never seen her on television.

  “Everything about him and his family was what he would share with me, and vice versa. So for both of us it was a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other,” Meghan added.

  For Harry, it was “hugely refreshing” to become involved with a woman who didn’t think she already knew him and who also wasn’t from his social circle.

  Because theirs was a long-distance relationship and they had to juggle myriad commitments, including Meghan’s punishing shooting schedule, they were nevertheless willing to put in the effort to make it work. Harry turned to Meghan. “I don’t think you know what time zone you’ve been in for the last year and a half.”

  Meghan started to laugh. “No, no, I didn’t!”

  As for knowing what she was letting herself in for by marrying into Britain’s royal family, Meghan admitted, “I think I can very safely say, as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half, I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like.” Looking to Harry for confirmation, she added, “I don’t think either of us understood, even though we both knew it would be—”

  “I tried to warn you as much as possible,” Harry gently interjected. He shook his head. “But I think both of us were totally surprised by the reaction after the first five or six months we had to ourselves. . . . You can have as many conversations as you want and try to prepare as much as possible; but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.”

  “The scrutiny,” Ms. Husain prompted.

  In addition to the negative press surrounding Meghan’s ethnicity, nationality, and even her profession (as it pertains to her talent, as well as to her suitability to be a royal in the first place), there has been an assumption, to some degree, that the media attention that began after the royal relationship was made public, and which will accompany Meghan for the rest of her life, will be an easy transition for her because as an actress she’s accustomed to photo shoots, red carpets, and promotional appearances.

  But Meghan was quick to dispel any misconceptions that her career provided a solid preparation for the tsunami. “I’ve never been part of tabloid culture,” she told the BBC. “I’ve never been in pop culture to that degree, and lived a relatively quiet life even though I focus so much on my job. So that was a really stark difference out of the gate.”

  Meghan made the determination early on not to read any of the comments, positive or negative, about their relationship; it was just healthier to use that energy to “focus on us.”

  “On us,” Meghan repeated as Harry said the phrase in tandem. The couple smiled at each other, every inch an “us.”

  For those who had expected the prince to pop the question in grand fashion, perhaps during their romantic helicopter ride over the Zambezi River while he and Meghan were on holiday in Africa in August 2017, the modest proposal did come as a surprise. Although the media was deprived of such playful headlines as HARRY KNEELS; VICTORIA FALLS, the proposal, when it came—and later than pundits had predicted—was so normal. So not royal. The forgoing of the princely grand gesture for the spontaneous moment of simply adorable domesticity is more in keeping with the romance of couples such as Victoria and Albert.

  “And it was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic,” Meghan said. She and Harry gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes as if they were reliving the moment. Meghan added, “He got on one knee.”

  “Of course,” Harry interjected.

  “Was it an instant yes from you?” Ms. Husain asked Meghan.

  “Yes!” she replied enthusiastically. Turning to Harry, Meghan added, “As a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing.” Still speaking to and looking at her fiancé, Meghan, replaying the moment, said, “Can I say yes now?”

  Harry said, “She wouldn’t let me finish [proposing]. She said ‘Can I say yes? Can I say yes?’ And then there was hugs, and I had the ring on my finger; and I said, ‘Can I give you the ring?’ ” Harry grew more excited as he described the marriage proposal, play by play. “And she was like, ‘Oh, yes, the ring!’ So it was a really nice moment. It was just the two of us and I think I managed to catch her by surprise.”

  Harry designed the engagement ring himself, in partnership with Her Majesty’s jeweler Cleave & Company. Touched by that gesture, Meghan said, admiring it, “It’s beautiful—and it’s incredible.”

  “And it should stay on your finger,” Harry murmured, looking at it.

  “Of course!” Meghan said, laughing.

  The band is a simple circle of Welsh yellow gold—Meghan’s favorite, Harry said proudly—with three diamonds. The center diamond came from Botswana, which has great sentimental significance to Harry. “The little diamonds on either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection, to make sure that she’s with us on this crazy journey together,” he told Ms. Husain.

  MEGHAN WAS DEEPLY moved as well as by the richly personal sentiment behind the design. “I think everything about Harry’s thoughtfulness and his inclusion [of Diana’s stones in the ring] and, obviously, not being able to meet his mom—it’s so important to me to know that she’s a part of this with us; and to be able to meet his aunts and . . . different people who were important to his mom, I’m able in some way to know a part of her through them, and of course through him.” Meghan turned to Harry again. “And it’s incredibly special to have this [ring], which links where you come from; and Botswana, which is important to us and—it’s perfect.” Meghan smiled.

  “What do you think your mother would have thought of Meghan?” Ms. Husain asked the prince.

  Harry grew wistful. Meghan appeared to clasp his hand more tightly. Fixing her gaze on him, her eyes brimmed with compassion, as if she were letting Harry know that it was okay for him to take his time, to be candid, open, emotional. She was right there for him and always would be. “They would have been thick as thieves, without question,” Harry said of Meghan and his mum. “I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down and so excited for me. But then I also believe that she would have been best friends with Meghan. It is days like today when I really miss having her around.”

  Meghan appeared to be holding back tears. She swallowed hard.

  “I miss being able to share the happy news,” Harry continued. “But I’m sure she’s—”

  “She’s with us,” Meghan said softly, knowing just when to jump in.

  “She’s with us,” Harry echoed. “You know—jumping up and down somewhere else.”

  Harry admitted that he felt “responsible for” Meghan, “from Day One, or at least from a couple of months in,” for what her life would be like as a royal. Moreover, he realized that he and Meghan needed to have some “frank conversations” if their relationship was going to go the distance.

  “When I suddenly realized I know that I’m in love with this girl and I hope she loves me,” he had to tell Meghan, “Look, what you’re letting yourself in for is a big deal. It’s not easy for anybody. But she chooses me and I choose her; and therefore, whatever we have to tackle together, or individually, will always be us as a team.”

  “It’s so nicely said, isn’t it?” Meghan said, beaming as she snuggled into Harry.

  As they laughed, touched, at times even blushed, maintaining eye contact throughout, their interview was hardly the embarrassing “Whatever love is” debacle Harry’s parents gave the press a generation earlier, where Diana was asked to stand on the stair below Charles so that she would not appear taller than he was; or even the relatively staid, albeit charming interview that William and Kate did in November 2010, which seemed groundbreaking at the time.

  “She’s capable of anything,” Harry said proudly. “There’s a hell of a lot that needs doing. Our relationship will always come first; but for us, we’re both passionate about wanting to make change, especially for young people in the
Commonwealth.”

  “Children?” asked Ms. Husain.

  “Not currently, no,” Harry deadpanned. Meghan laughed again. But they do plan to start a family eventually, he conceded.

  Harry sees his own official role going forward as having three branches: first, to honor and extend his mother’s legacy, particularly with regard to those affected with AIDS. He has inherited Diana’s talent for communicating with all types of people from all over the world, especially children. Harry’s work with Sentebale in Lesotho has already been effecting change there.

  The second responsibility is to support the nonagenarian monarch, who has been steadily passing some of her duties to her grandchildren while allowing them to choose their own passion projects. And the third thread is his work, along with William and Kate, to remove the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in a culture where men and women are supposed to soldier on and not discuss their problems. The British government is supporting this initiative. They have the money, and the royals have the voice.

  It seems likely that Meghan will add her voice to these projects as well.

  She views her marriage to Harry not as leaving her past successes behind, but as an opportunity to generate different ones moving forward—a new chapter in her life. “Bear in mind,” she told Ms. Husain, “I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a series for seven years; and to have that kind of longevity—once we hit the one-hundred-episode mark, I thought, Well, I’ve ticked that box—and I feel really proud of the work I’ve done there. And now it’s time to”—smiling, she angled her body even more toward Harry and spoke directly, sweetly, and proudly to him—“as you said, work as a team. With you.”

  What Meghan has found “really exciting” as she transitions out of her acting career and into her role as a royal is that she can focus even more energy on the causes that are important to her. “Very early out of the gate you realize that once you have access or a voice that people are going to listen to, with that comes responsibility, which I take seriously. And in the same time, in these beginning few months . . . now, being boots on the ground in the UK, I’m excited to get to know more about the different communities here, smaller organizations, working on the same causes that I’ve always been passionate about, under this umbrella—and also to be able to go around the Commonwealth—”