FULL Interview: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - BBC News

you're all highness Megan Markel congratulations to both thank you can we start with the proposal and the actual moment of your engagement when did it happen how did it happen it happened a few weeks ago this month here at our cottage the standard typical night for roasting chicken and chicken and it was just just an amazing surprise it was so Sweden and natural and very romantic he got on one knee yes yes as a matter of fact I could barely let you finish proposing so can I say yes ma'am let me finish and then those hugs and I have the ring on my finger and I was like can I give you the ring she was all yes the ready so no reason it was a really nice moment just the two of us and I think I managed to catch it catch it by surprise as well yeah and this is how long after you first met how it would be a year and a half two more than which for most people would be quite a whirlwind is that how it felt to you I don't think that I would call it a whirlwind in terms of our relationship obviously they've been layers attached to how public it has become after we had a good five six months so most with just privacy which was amazing but no I think we were able to really have so much time just to connect and we never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other even though we were obviously doing a long-distance relationship so it's we made it work how did you first meet yes we first met we were introduced actually by a mutual friend who we will we should protect her privacy well too much of that and but it was it was actually it was through her and then we met once and then twice back-to-back two dates in London last July yes I can't even July and then it was I think about three maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana and we we camped out with each other under the stars and responded to come join me for five days out there which was absolutely fantastic so then we were really by ourselves which I which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other but the friend who introduced you was she trying to set you up yes it was definitely a set of blank days and it's so interesting because we talked about it and now and even then I you know because I'm from the States you don't grow up with the same understanding of of the royal family and so while I now understand very clearly there's a a global interest there I didn't know much about him and so the only thing that I had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was having one question I said was he nice because if he wasn't kind it just didn't it didn't seem like it would make sense and so we went and had a met for a drink and then I think very quickly into that we said what are we doing tomorrow we should meet again represent or let's meet again and then it was like white Diaries we need to get the Diaries out and find out how we're gonna make this work because I was off to Africa for a month yeah she was working and we just said right where's where's the gap and the gap happened to be the perfect place how much did you put how we know about Megan had you seen her on TV no I I've never never even heard about it until this friend said making more cause like write a cake give me give me a bit of background it's like what's going on here so no I'd never I'd never watched suits I'd never heard of Megan before and I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her and there she was sitting there I was like okay why we have to up my game sit down and make sure I've got a good shot I think for both of us so it was it was really refreshing because given that I didn't know a lot about him everything that I've learned about him I learned through him as opposed to having grown up around different news stories or tabloids or whatever else anything I learned about him and his family was what he would share with me and vice versa so for both of us it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other and was that quite refreshing for you in the way that you've been brought up you know with a lot of people knowing a lot about you was it refreshing thinking I think exactly yeah no it's hugely refreshing to be able to get to know someone who isn't necessarily within your circle doesn't know much about me I don't know about much about her so to be able to start almost afresh right from the beginning and getting to know each other step by step and then taking that huge leap of any two dates and then and then going together in the middle of nowhere and you know showing it showing attempt together and what kind of stuff it was there was it was fantastic it was absolutely amazing to get to know her as quickly as I did and starting a long-distance relationship you were working on suits you had I imagine a packed filming schedule you've got lots of commitments of your own how hard was it to keep things going it was just a choice right I think that very early on we realized we were going to commit to each other and we knew we had to invest the time and the energy and whatever it took to make that happen and so yeah with the filming schedule it was not the easiest because it of course included a lot of travel back and forth but I don't think you had any idea what time zone it becomes the last year and a half no he'll be over here for days or week and then going back and then straight into filming the next day 4:00 a.m. wake-up calls on a Monday straight into cert right off the plane and straight to say I'm just trying to just try to stay as close as possible but you know two different time zones and five hours apart does have its challenges but then the we made it working and now we're here so in the case of your relationship unlike for most people there's this whole layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family how much of a sense did you have Meaghan of the enormity what you were getting into what it might mean for your life I think I can very safely say as naive as it sounds now having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like I don't think either of us did that we both said that even though we knew that it would be yeah I tried to I tried I tried to warn I tried to warn you as much as possible but I think both of us were totally surprised by the reaction after the first five six months of when we had to ourselves of what actually happened from then so I think you can you can have as many conversations as you want and try and prepare as much as possible but we were we would take it on prepare for what happened after that the scrutiny was well I mean I think also because there's a misconception that because I have worked in the entertainment industry that this would be something I would be familiar with but even though I've been on my show for I guess six years at that point and working before that I've never been part of tabloid culture I've never been in pop culture to that degree and and lived a relatively quiet life even though I focused so much on my job and so that was a really stark difference out of the gate but and I think we were just hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths that I made the choice to not read anything positive or negative it just didn't make sense and instead we focused all of our energies just on nurturing our relationship yes and some of that scrutiny and you ended up making a very public statement about if some of that scrutiny was centered around your ethnicity again when you realize that what did you think of course it's disheartening you know it's it's it's a shame that that is the climate in this world to focus that much on that or that that would be discriminatory in that sense but I think you know the end of the day I'm really just proud of Who I am and where I come from and we have never put any focus on that we've just focused on who we are as a couple and so when you take all those extra layers away and all of that noise I think it makes it really easy to just enjoy being together and tune all the rest of that out but now that it is all official Prince Harry do you have that sense that the combination of the two of you your different backgrounds that you together represent something new for the royal family but something new I think it's a you know it's a for me it's an added member of the family it's another another team player as part of the the bigger team and you know for all of us what we wanted to do is be able to carry out the right engagements carry out our work and try and encourage others and the younger generation to be able to see the world in the correct sense rather than perhaps being just having a distorted view so you know the fact that I thought that I fell in love with Megan so incredibly quickly was a sort of confirmation to me that everything everything all the stars are aligned everything was just perfect it was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life I spun into her life and the fact that she I know the fact that she'll be really unbelievably good at the job part of it as well is obviously huge relief to me because she'll be able to deal with with everything else that comes with it but um no you know we're a fantastic team we know we are and and what we hope to over time try and have as much impact for the things that we care about as much as possible and making given your your acting in the profile you had you'd already been involved in various courses you've been an ambassador for UN Women what about this new role I mean you're going to have a bigger platform a bigger voice what do you want to do with it I mean houses I think what's been really exciting as we talk about the transition of this out of my career but into the role is that as you said the causes that have been very important to me I can focus even more energy on because very early out of the gate I think you realize once you have access or a voice that people are willing to listen to with that comes a lot of responsibility which I take seriously and at the same time I think in these beginning few months and now being boots on the ground in the UK I'm excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here smaller organizations we're working on the same causes that I've always been passionate about under this umbrella and and also being able to go around to the common well if I think it's just just the beginning of that there's a lot to do there's a lot to do and it's an immense change you're you're getting a new country out of it as a husband obviously but also giving up giving giving up your career yes but I I don't see it as giving anything up I just see it as a change in each other it's a new chapter right and and also keep in mind I I've been working on my show for seven years so we were very very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series and for me once we hit the hundred episode marker I thought you know what I have I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I've done there and now it's time to as you said work work as a team but do you have that sense of responsibility Prince Harry for what you thought you were asking Megan to do of course that sense of responsibility was it was essentially from day one or maybe a couple of months in when I suddenly realized actually this is you know I feel I know that I'm in love with this girl and I hope that she's in love with me but we still had to sit down on the sofa and I stopped you know I still had to have some pretty you know frank conversations with her to say that you know what you're letting yourself in for is it is it's a big it's a big deal and it's you know it's not I wouldn't it's not it's not easy for anybody but I know that you know she she chooses me and I choose her and therefore you know whatever whatever we have to tackle together or individually it will always be us together as a team so I think I think she's she's capable she's capable of anything and together as I said this there's a hell of a lot of stuff and work that needs doing at the moment for us it's going to be making sure that our relationship is always but first but know that both of us have passions for wanting to make change change for good and you know with lots of young people running around but a couple wolf that's where we're gonna spend my final thing and it was really one of the first things we connected on it was one of the first things we started talking about when we met was just the different things that we wanted to do in the world and how passionate we were about seeing change I think that was um that's what got date two in the books probably plenty to talk about children no not currently no no of course you know that I think you know one fit one step at a time and if you will will start a family in the near future I think you've met each other's families imagine yes his family's been so welcoming and and you're going to feel emotion I have on both sides of this families mom side as well which has been really important to me too but yes the family has been great and over the past year and a half we've just had a really nice time getting to know them and progressively helping me feel a part of of not just the institution but also part of the family which has been really really special trying to track them down and make sure they're around at the same time that she's popping in without telling too many people and we've managed we've actually done incredibly well to make sure the key people so doesn't mean a lot of the time and that you've been together in this last year and a half you've been you've been at home a lot yes we've we've well yeah we had to reverse the whole process and Thursday nights Airmen from the television cooking dinner with just the two of us by ourselves and on the one cottage rather than going out for dinner and being seen in public so we have we reversed the whole process which is it's it's it's provided different opportunities and has made us a hell of a lot closer in a shorter space of time like a champ that's you know without question so you know if anybody else maybe slow down the dates and maybe spend more time home but I mean no it's it's for us it's it's an opportunity to to really get to know each other without other people you know looking or trying to take photos on their phones and all that kind of stuff you know with that that comes that comes comes with a comes to the job comes to the role but I'm responsible yeah and we were able to really get to know each other that way but also then to go and have friends over for dinner or to go to his family's tea or any of those sort of things and even you know just to take the take the time to be able to go on long country walks and have you met the Queen times it's incredible I think you know a to be able to meet her through his lens not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch but the love that he has for her as his grandmother all of those layers have been so important for me so that when I met her I had such a deep understanding and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her and and we've had her really she's she's an incredible woman I'm the cool history straightaway it's 33 has been booked absolutely just laying on my feet during was very sweet that has to be of a good sign speaking of dogs have you brought yours hi well I have two dogs that I've had for quite a long time both my rescue pups and one is now staying with very close friends and my other little guy is yes he's in the UK he's been here for a while okay let's hope he adjusts well I think he's doing just fine what was it like introducing Megan to your father and your brother was it like it was exciting I mean I I've been seeing her for a period of time when I literally didn't didn't tell anybody at all and then William was longing to meet her and so as Catherine so you know they're being our neighbors we managed to get get that in a cup of well quite a few times now and Catherine's been absolutely wonderful amazing I says William as well a fantastic support and then my my father is already you know top of more than that we had a handful of teas and meetings and and all sorts of gatherings over at his place as well so know the family together have been absolutely you know solid support and my grandparents as well have been every wonderful throughout this whole process and they've known for quite some time so how they everybody know that the whole family have come together and and have been a huge amount of something they've been amazing and making your parents do you think you know well very happy for you obviously do you think they have worried at all about the scale of what you're getting into well I'm sure at the onset both my parents and my close friends were concerned because we got very quickly swept up in a media storm that as a I shared was not part of my life before that but they also had never seen me so happy and and I think also once my friends excuse me we're able to to really meet Harry and my mom we would spend a lot of time with it was so much fun it was just you know it was just obvious that no matter what we were being put through that it was just temporary and that we were going to be able to get through that so everyone was really happy we've he's talked to my dad few times hasn't been able to meet him just yet but it's all been it's all been worth every effort your ring oh yeah tell us about your ring the ring is is obviously yellow gold because that's her favorite and the main stone itself a sauce from Botswana and the the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jury collection to make sure what she's worth on this on this crazy journey together and it's beautiful and he designed it it's incredible yeah yeah make sure it stays on my finger Pacific what does it mean to you Megan to have those stones on your finger that once belonged to Princess Diana I think everything about Harry's thoughtfulness and the inclusion of that and obviously not being able to meet his mom it's so important to me to to know that she's a part of this with us and and I think in being able to meet his aunts and and also to be like Julia and me just different people who are so important to his mom I'm able to in some way know a part of her through them and of course through him and it's it's incredibly special and you know to be able to have this which sort of links or you come from and what's one of which is important to us and it's it's perfect what do you think your mother would have thought of Megan or said about Megan is there because there's without question I think she would be over the moon jumping up and down I was so excited for it for me but then as I said it would have probably been best friends best friends with Megan so now it's I you know it's these days like days like today when when I really miss having you around and miss being able to show that the happy news but you know with with the ring in with everything else that's going on I'm sure she's I'm sure she's with us you know jumping up and down somewhere else that's Harry Megan local thank you both very much thank you so much

Channel: BBC News

Views: 12,756,652

Keywords: bbc, bbc news, news, Harry and Meghan, FULL Interview, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, royal, royal engagement, prince harry engagement, prince harry fiance, royal fiance, suits, suits star, Meghan Markle the proposal, Meghan Markle ex husband

Id: LQicq60aJaw

Length: 20min 26sec (1226 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 27 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/pineapplewood]

She puts on the exact persona that I put on when I would be around young children. This “everything is perfect, I am so sweet, you are so sweet, the world is wonderful” persona and you can hear it in the softness of her voice, see it in her dramatic turns to look at Harry, her over pronounced gazes and forced smiles, etc.

It’s frustrating to watch.

[u/HaitchanM]

They also detail in this I think just how prepared she is and warned about whether this is what she wants. Clearly all she heard was £30m wedding, tiara, outfit allowance.

[u/bee_squirrel_]

Harry talks about how supportive his family have been, specially William and Catherine about Meghan. She also talks fondly about her dad here, so surprising!

[u/HaitchanM]

Is this also the interview in which she tries to lie (honestly cant watch this terrible performance again) and say they’ve been together 2yrs before they were engaged and Harry says 18months? She KNOWS its because 18m is too soon and it looks like she looks pathetic for giving up her whole life to move across the world for a rship of just over a year (when she moved).

Edit I was right. 58secs. “It was was 18m-2yrs?” Which one Meg.

[u/Aran82]

It’s hard for me to watch because especially the way she holds his hand throughout reminds me of my ex - who was sickly sweet and also said very fairytale, Disneyesque, cringey fake things but was a sadistic narcissists - lots of signs I see here.

[u/swiwwtw]

Never watched it, I wasn’t interested in her.

But just watched it now. It was super cringe. The hand clutching just gets to me. Wouldn’t their palms be sweaty? Don’t they feel uncomfortable that they can only express themselves with one hand?

And that naivety and positivity. Hadn’t she lived a good 35 years to know that things are not going to be all good just because someone is an A-lister or a billionaire or a princess? She was ready for that for an entire lifetime without even knowing what that life really entails? Something tells me she always had a backup plan. If anything just put up with it for a good 1-2 years, and make sure to have a son that carries the royal blood and her ties to the royal family can never be severed.

And this really shows how she is able to switch on to try to portray an angelic personality or victim personality as she see fit. That’s why people like her or give her the benefit of the doubt the first time they meet her but over time come to question how genuine she is because she can’t put up with that persona 24/7.

[u/TemporaryExam5717]

Omg SHE SAID SHE UNDERSTANDS NOW. Her words!!! She says she understaaaaaands!!!!!

[u/dadadawn]

She never has been a very good actress.

Also, I sniggered at, "I didn't even let him finish proposing!" Just like she is constantly interrupting and talking over him.

[u/sammmymantha]

Even though it's not what he meant, I love the idea that the perfect place for their second date was at The Gap.