Meghan and Harry are engaged! Here's how it happened

After months of speculation, the news is finally official: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are engaged!

The couple, who have been dating for just over a year, are set to marry during the British Spring next year – that’s Autumn for us in Australia – so prepare for a whirlwind next couple of months.

Speculation is already mounting that the royal wedding will take place before Kate Middleton and Prince William welcome their third child, which is due in April.

Harry and Meghan's exciting news was announced via a statement from Prince Charles, that revealed the fifth in line to the throne actually proposed earlier this month with a stunning diamond ring made up from a gem he sourced from Botswana - where the couple had their first private holiday - and stones from his late mother's jewellery collection.

A letter from Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’ residence, was released just after 9pm Australian time and says that Harry, 33, got down on one knee after asking 36-year-old Meghan’s parents for her hand.

• Prince Harry announces engagement to Meghan Markle

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After receiving both their blessings, he shared the news with his family and the Queen, and posed for his first photo and TV interview with his new bride-to-be in the hours that followed the initial announcement.

Although she says in a Tweet that she's 'delighted' for the couple, it remains to be seen whether Queen Elizabeth II will actually attend their wedding.

Meghan is a divorcee - after her two-year marriage to Trevor Engelson disolved in 2013 - and the Crown has a chequered history with second marriages.

When Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005, the Queen and her husband Prince Philip did not attend the ceremony, and the same is expected to be the case for Harry and Meghan.

However in the meantime, congratulations have been flowing in thick and fast for the lovebirds, with Meghan's parents leading the charge with a joint letter expressing their delight.

"We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry," their statement says, "our daughter has always been a kind and loving person."

"To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of joy for us as parents. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are very excited for their future together."

The Duchess of Cambridge Kate, who is four months pregnant, and husband William, also showered praises on the Suits star.

"We are very excited for Harry and Meghan," they say in an official tweet, "It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together."

Meanwhile Prince Charles says he and wife Camilla Parker-Bowles are 'thrilled'. "We're thrilled. We're both thrilled. We hope they'll be very happy indeed," he says.

Prince Charles' letter also confirmed that the couple will live in Nottingham Cottage, Prince Harry’s wing of Kensington Palace – something which has been widely speculated since moving vans were seen packing up Meghan’s Toronto home.

The actress, who has recently been seen out and about getting to know her new home of London, has already managed to bring one of her beloved rescue dogs Guy, over to the UK, while her other pup Bogart, is staying with close friends.

Kensington Palace is Prince Harry's childhood home, and his late mother Diana, continued to call a section of the palace her home while in London until her untimely death 20 years ago.

Neither Harry or Prince William have moved into Diana's apartment since she passed away, but Wills lives in another larger part of the palace with Kate Middleton and their two children, George and Charlotte.

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Harry and Meghan went public with their blossoming relationship in November 2016 after they met and first started dating in May that year.

While their paths hadn't crossed before then, Meghan already had a lot in common with the prince thanks to her extensive charity work. She's been the face of World Vision Canada in Africa, and recently visited India in aide of young women in need - feats which would no doubt have impressed her late mother-in-law Diana, who was a fierce humanitarian.

However, since her relationship with Harry began getting serious, Meghan has said goodbye to a number of things that have been integral parts of her life until now.

In April this year, she shut down her lifestye blog, The Tig, and stopped posting on her public Instagram page. She's also just confirmed that she will be turning her back on her acting career and leaving her popular TV show Suits, at the end of season seven, to start her work as an official royal.

• A timeline of Harry and Meghan's relationship

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