Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are revisiting the highlights of their love story.
In episode 2 of the couple’s new Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recall the romantic night of their engagement.
"From my perspective, I fell head over heels in love with her because my heart told me that she was the one that I was gonna spend the rest of my life with," Harry says, reflecting on where his head was at in the moments leading up to his decision to propose. "Once I got to know her even more, my head then told me, ‘Well, she’s absolutely perfect for the role as well.’ When it came to Meghan, that was I guess the case of finding the needle in the haystack."
Though he wanted to pop the question sooner, Harry says he was restrained because he first had to get the green light from Queen Elizabeth II.
"I wanted to do it earlier. … Because I had to ask permission from my grandmother, I couldn’t do it outside of the U.K.," he says.
Harry and Meghan announce their engagement in 2017. Samir Hussein//Getty Images
The night of the proposal, Harry nearly ruined the surprise. "I did pop a bottle of champagne while she was greasing the chicken and that kind of slightly gave the game away," he says. "She was like, ‘You don’t drink champagne. What’s the occasion?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. Just had it laying around here, whatever.’"
Harry felt confident that her answer would be a resounding yes, but he joked that having her beagle, Guy, in tow might have played a helping hand.
"Wasn’t lying, I knew she’d say yes," he says. "But she’d already moved Guy over. So I had Guy as a hostage."
The actual proposal took place outside. Harry describes the setting, "In the North garden, being overlooked by the staff flats, I got 15 of those electric candles. … Of course I got down on one knee. Of course I did."
Meghan adds, "He’s down on one knee and I was just like, ‘Yes!’ We were so joyful and excited. I was like, ‘Ah, we’re doing this.’"
The couple officially announced their engagement in November 2017. They were married by the following year.
