This Is How You'll Know When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Engaged
Ever since Prince Harry whisked Meghan Markle away to Africa for her birthday in August, two questions have been on everyone’s minds: Is he about to propose? Or has he already done so?
Yes, fans are a tiny bit excited about the possibility of Harry slipping a ring on Markle’s finger, but PEOPLE Royals is here to tell you exactly how you’ll find out — if and when it happens.
How will you know? Well, for starters, the palace will make the announcement. No one else. If Harry and Markle are engaged and keeping it under wraps, the only people who will be privy to such information will be their nearest and dearest — people they’d trust not to leak the information.
If you want a more clear idea of how a potential royal engagement announcement will go, take a look back almost seven years ago, when Prince William and the then-Kate Middleton shared their own engagement news on November 16, 2010.
At the time of their engagement, the couple had been together for eight years, during which countless wedding bell rumors and false claims had circulated. But when the news hit, you knew: The palace made an early morning announcement. Social media, even back in 2010, was in a frenzy. (Imagine what it would be like in 2017!)
Soon after the official announcement was made, William and Kate attended a photo call at St. James’s Palace. Then, they did an on-camera interview with Sky News — the first time the public heard Kate speak. In the interview, William said that he popped the question while the couple was on vacation in Kenya in October — a month prior to the public announcement.
William and Kate had been seen together in public after the engagement — most notably at the wedding of their friends Harry Meade and Rosie Bradford. Kate didn’t, however, wear her new ring to the occasion. Until the palace had given the official word, there were no signs, no hints from the couple that it was time for an engagement.
It was a whirlwind of a day, and all of it was publicly broadcast — and dictated by the palace’s terms. An engagement between Harry and Markle can be expected to follow a similar pattern.
So, how can you be the first to know? Keep your eye on the royal family’s official Twitter feeds, @KensingtonRoyal, @RoyalFamily and @ClarenceHouse, for one. And of course, head to PEOPLE Royals. Though the palace themselves will be the first ones to give the word, we’ll be ready!
