Over the weekend, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their first public appearance together after almost a year of publicly dating.
Harry travelled to Toronto, Canada for the Invictus Games, the sporting competition he started for wounded servicemembers, with his Suits actress girlfriend heading along for the opening ceremony.
Though the pair didn’t sit together – Harry sat with Melania Trump and near Justin Trudeau, while Meghan sat a few rows away – the outing was still a huge moment for the couple.
The Invictus Games is an event with the full backing of Buckingham Palace, it’s highly publicised and covered by press from all over the world. The pair’s decision to both attend is yet another strong indication that a royal engagement is imminent, and comes just a few weeks after Meghan’s first interview about their relationship.
“I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple,” the loved-up actress told Vanity Fair.
“We’re two people who are really happy and in love. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people’s perception,” she continued.
“Nothing about me changed. I’m still the same person that I am, and I’ve never defined myself by my relationship.”
“It has its challenges, and it comes in waves,” the 36-year-old said of the public attention.
“Some days it can feel more challenging than others. And right out of the gate it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend’s support.”
The above isn’t just any famous couple’s first outing or first interview – in fact, it means so much that Britain’s bookmakers have stopped taking bets on whether or not the prince will propose because they think it’s inevitable.
