Though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement on November 27, 2017, they had actually gotten engaged a few weeks before on November 4, at their former U.K. home of Nottingham Cottage.
When Harry and Meghan sat down for an interview together the day their engagement was announced, Harry said the proposal “happened a few weeks ago, earlier this month, here at our cottage.” It was “just a standard typical night for us,” he added.
“Just a cozy night, it was—what we were doing, just roasting chicken and having…” Meghan added, before Harry jumped in and added, “Roasting a chicken, trying to roast a chicken.” (Who can forget Meghan’s famous engagement chicken, the recipe of which soared in popularity after they got engaged?)
“Trying to roast a chicken and it just—just an amazing surprise,” Meghan added. “It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee,” to which Harry said, “Of course.”
Meghan said she barely let Harry finish proposing before exclaiming, “Can I say yes now?” To this, Harry added, “She didn’t even let me finish. She said, ‘Can I say yes? Can I say yes?’ and then [there] were hugs, and I had the ring in my finger and I was like, ‘Can I—can I give you the ring?’ She goes, ‘Oh, yes, the ring.’”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announcing their engagement in 2017.
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“So no, it was—it was a really nice moment,” Harry said. “It was just the two of us, and I think [I] managed to catch her by surprise, as well.”
Though it was just the two of them, Meghan’s dog Guy was also present. Since their 2017 engagement interview, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have opened up more about the proposal, both in their 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan and in Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare.
In the book, Harry wrote that he popped a bottle of champagne and set up a blanket on the grass outdoors in the walled garden of Nottingham Cottage. He added that he “set electric candles around the blanket” because “I wanted it to look like Botswana, where I’d first thought of proposing.” The couple had gone to Botswana early in their courtship, and it is widely regarded as being the place where they fell in love.
Meghan Markle’s engagement ring in 2017.
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When Harry proposed, he asked Meghan, “Spend your life with me? Make me the happiest guy on the planet?” Before announcing their engagement to the world, the couple had an engagement party where everyone dressed in animal onesie—and Harry and Meghan, sweetly, wore matching penguin onesies, because penguins mate for life.