Royal engagement at games for Prince’s ‘great love’ Meghan
MEGHAN MARKLE is to join Prince Harry at the Invictus Games later this month, as she takes part in her first public engagement as a royal girlfriend.
The Prince and Miss Markle have been dating since July 2016, but the public was unaware of their romance for several months. Their relationship was officially confirmed in November, when Prince Harry issued a statement in which he named Miss Markle as his girlfriend and asked for her privacy to be respected.
Although the couple have been photographed together at a friend’s wedding in the Caribbean and arriving on holiday in Botswana, they are yet to make an official appearance.
This will change when Miss Markle joins the Prince at the Invictus Games in Toronto on September 23. The Games were set up by Prince Harry in 2014 for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel.
This year’s event brings together his passion project with Miss Markle’s adopted home – Toronto is where Suits, the US Netflix drama she appears in, is shot. Filming for the new series begins today, so she will be in the Canadian city before the games begin.
The announcement of their first public engagement marks a further step forward for the couple’s relationship, less than a week after an interview given by Markle to Vanity Fair magazine sparked speculation that an engagement announcement is imminent.
The interview was conducted with the blessing of Prince Harry, with Kensington Palace aware that it would be coming out. In it, Miss Markle spoke of her and Prince Harry’s “great love story” for the first time, confirming: “We’re a couple. We’re in love.” It was interpreted by royal watchers as a significant step in making their relationship public and official.
Prince Harry, as fifth in line to the throne, must ask the Queen’s permission before marriage.