Prince Harry says 'stars were aligned' when he met Meghan Markle

LONDON: Britain's Prince Harry has admitted that the "stars were aligned" when he met his fiancee Meghan Markle on a blind date and fell in love with her "so incredibly quickly".

Harry, one of the 'world's most eligible bachelors', yesterday revealed that he is getting hitched to outspoken American actress Markle next year after they got engaged earlier this month.

In his first interview since announcing his engagement to the Suites actress, the 33-year-old fifth in line to Britain's throne told the BBC that he proposed Markle, three years older to him, earlier this month over a "standard, typical" dinner of roast chicken at their Nottingham Cottage home in Kensington Palace in London.

"He went down on one knee," Markle said, adding that "it was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic."

Harry said "this beautiful woman just tripped and fell into my life" as he revealed how the pair got together.

"She didn't even let me finish. She said 'Can I say yes'. Then there were hugs and I had the ring in my finger. I was like 'Can I give you the ring?'. It was a really nice moment. Just the two of us," Harry recalled.

"The fact that I fell in love with Markle so incredibly quickly was confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect," he said.

The couple revealed that they had met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend in London last July and got to know each other camping in Botswana, South Africa.

"I think about three, maybe four weeks later I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana. And we camped out with each other under the stars... she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic," said Harry.

36-year-old Markle, who is already involved with humanitarian work and is a women's advocate with the United Nations (UN), confirmed that she would be moving away from her acting career to focus on her new royal role.

The star of US legal drama 'Suits' said she was looking forward to focusing more energy on the causes that are important to her.

"I know that she will be unbelievably good at the job part of it (royalty) as well," Harry said.

The prince, who had designed Markle's engagement ring with diamonds from his late mother Prince Diana's collection, said that he feels that they would have got on very well and been "thick as thieves... best friends".

The prince also revealed that he had not been aware of Markle before their first meeting as he had never watched her television show.

The couple are due to get married in spring next year, with speculation that the wedding is likely to take place in May 2018 after Prince William and Kate Middleton's third child is born in April.

Earlier, Clarence House, the office of Harry's father Prince Charles, had announced that the pair had sought and received the blessings of Queen Elizabeth II. Harry revealed that during their meeting, his grandmother's corgi dogs had instantly taken to his bride-to-be.