Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne, is set to marry American actress Meghan Markle, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Monday, ending months of intense rumours and discreet courtship.

It was announced that the two were engaged earlier this month in London and will tie the knot in spring 2018, according to a statement released by Prince Charles. 

"Prince Harry has informed the Queen and other close members of The Royal Family," the statement read. 

The couple will make two public appearances later Monday, Kensington Palace stated, with a photo call and a broadcast interview. 

Markle's parents, Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, also released a statement congratulating the couple on their engagement and wishing them "a lifetime of happiness."

"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 great joy for us as parents," the statement said. 

Meghan Markle was raised in the Los Angeles area. Her father is a Hollywood lighting director, her mother a yoga instructor and psychotherapist.

 

A short statement from Prince William and his wife Catherine expressed their excitement. 

"It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together." 

Harry and Markle met in July 2016 in London "through friends," Markle told Vanity Fair in September.

  

In that interview, Markle made it clear the world's attention on her romance did not faze her.

"I'm still the same person that I am, and I've never defined myself by my relationship," she said. "The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise."

She also told the magazine that the two were "in love." The frank and open statement about a royal relationship was seen as a break with tradition.

But their relationship was not always that public.

They long chose to keep the details of their relationship mum to the press and the public, despite intense and often intrusive speculation from the U.K. tabloids.

In November 2016, Harry issued a rare statement to criticize the media for intruding into the private life and relationship with Markle, saying the press had subjected her to "a wave of abuse and harassment."

Though the couple have been photographed together from afar in the past, they were not publicly seen together for the first time until they attended the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017.

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Prince Harry, right, and Meghan Markle are publicly seen together for the first time at the Invictus Games on Sept. 25. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)

Markle, 36, is best known for her role on the Toronto-filmed legal drama Suits and has appeared in smaller film roles that include Horrible Bosses and Remember Me.

Outside of acting, Markle founded a lifestyle blog called TheTig.com — which closed down in April without explanation — and has lent her celebrity status to humanitarian causes. 

It's official Harry and Meghan are engaged!0:56

Known for charity work

She has campaigned with the United Nations on gender equality, written in Time magazine about girls' education and the stigma surrounding menstruation, and has travelled to Rwanda as global ambassador for the charity World Vision Canada. She has described how her mother took her to the slums of Jamaica to witness poverty first-hand, saying experiences like that shaped her social consciousness and charity work.

To some degree that mirrors the experience of Harry, who was also inspired by his mother's humanitarian work and embraced the types of charities Diana favoured in the final years of her life before her 1997 death in a Paris car crash. 

Harry, 33, whose full name is Henry Charles Albert David, chose a military career and founded the Invictus Games, a multi-sport event for wounded, injured or sick service personnel and veterans.

He is fifth in line to the throne, behind his father Prince Charles, older brother Prince William and William's children, George and Charlotte.

Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane SUITS Season 1 2011

Markle, born Aug. 4, 1981, is a series regular on the Toronto-filmed legal drama Suits. (Frank Ockenfels/USA/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)

With files from The Associated Press