Prince Harry, US actress Meghan Markle announce engagement

Britain’s Prince Harry is engaged to his US actress girlfriend Meghan Markle with the marriage due to take place in the spring of 2018, his father Prince Charles announced on Monday.

Harry, 33, currently fifth-inline to the British throne, and Markle, 36, best known for her role in the US TV legal drama “Suits,” became engaged 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,” a statement issued by Clarence House, Prince Charles’ official London residence, said.

“The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted for the couple and wish them every happiness,” a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said.

The couple met in July 2016 after they were introduced through friends.

Prince Harry publicly confirmed their relationship months later in a rebuke to the media, which had been intruding into Markle’s private life, but it was not until September that they made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games in Toronto, a sports event for wounded veterans.

“We’re in love,” Markle told Vanity Fair magazine in an interview that month. “I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time.

The youngest son of heir-tothe-throne Prince Charles and his first wife Princess Diana.

But since enjoying a successful military career which saw him on active service twice in Afghanistan, he has secured a place as one of Britain’s most popular royals, not just at home but globally, and like his mother has become a prominent charity campaigner on issues such as mental health and Aids.

Markle, who is a divorcee, has appeared in a number of TV shows and films, such as “Horrible Bosses,” but achieved greatest fame for her starring part as “Rachel Zane” in the ongoing “Suits” series.