A royal affair! Prince
Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship has been on the world’s radar
ever since news broke in 2016 that they were dating.
The pair were introduced
through mutual friends that July. One year after their first encounter,
the Suits alum addressed the pair’s courtship for the first time.
“We’re a couple. We’re in
love,” she gushed to Vanity Fair at the time. “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. This
is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. But
we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story.”
Harry and Meghan announced
their engagement in November 2017. After tying the knot in May 2018 at
St George’s Chapel in Windsor, England, the queen gave them the additional
title of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The couple welcomed their
son, Archie, the same month they celebrated their one-year wedding
anniversary. The pair have been able to spend more time with their little one
while quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were both there for his
first steps, his first run, his first fall, his first everything,” Harry said
during a conversation on International Day of the Girl in October 2020, while
Meghan added, “I think it’s just fantastic, because I think in so many ways, we
are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow. And in the absence
of COVID, we would be traveling and working more externally, and we’d miss a
lot of those moments. So I think it’s been a lot of really good family time.”
Harry and Meghan announced in
February 2021 that they were expecting their second child together. The
happy news came after the California native suffered a miscarriage in
July 2020. She gave birth to daughter Lilibet in June 2021.
They have remained by each
other’s side through thick and thin. As the former Tig blogger continued to be
targeted British tabloids, Harry spoke out how he has a responsibility to
shield her and their son, Archie, from harm’s way.
“I will always protect my
family, and now I have a family to protect,” he said in ITV’s Harry
& Meghan: An African Journey documentary in October 2019. “I will not
be bullied into a game that was responsible for killing my mother [Princess
Diana]. So everything that she went through and what happened to her is
incredibly important every single day. And that is not me being paranoid, that
is just me not wanting a repeat of the past.”
Harry and Meghan
announced their step back as senior members of the royal family in
January 2020 with plans to work to become financially independent. They left
the British Army vet’s native U.K. for California in March 2020.
More than one year after their
shocking exit, Buckingham Palace confirmed in February 2021 that the duo
informed Queen Elizabeth II that their decision to step down as
working members of the royal family will be permanent. “While we are all
saddened by their decision, the duke and duchess remain much-loved members of
the family,” the monarch’s statement read.
