how members of the Royal Family popped THE question

There is world-wide attention every time a member of the Royal Family gets engaged. 

Yet the proposals that came beforehand, have been rather more private affairs – with the details only emerging over time.

We now know that  Prince Harry became engaged to Meghan Markle at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

That Jack Brooksbank proposed to Princess Eugenie at sunrise over a volcano in Nicaragua.

And that  Mike Tindall asked  Zara Phillips to marry him while she was watching television!

Here, The Mail’s new Royals section looks back at the times that the Royals have popped the question – whether the occasion was romantic, regal….or just a little underwhelming.

Prince William and Kate

Prince William proposed to Kate, his girlfriend of eight years, while they were on holiday with friends in Kenya in October 2010.

Their engagement was announced three weeks later on November 16 2010.

In their engagement interview with ITV, William said: ‘It was about three weeks ago while on holiday in Kenya, we had a little private time away together with some friends and I just decided that it was the right time really.

‘We’ve been talking about marriage for a while so it wasn’t a massively big surprise but I took her up somewhere nice and proposed – it was very romantic.’

The Prince went on to say he had been planning to propose ‘for a while’ and had been carrying around his mother’s famous sapphire engagement ring in his backpack three weeks for three weeks beforehand.

The oval 12-carat Ceylon sapphire, surrounded by a cluster of 14 solitaire diamonds set in white gold, was created for Diana by Garrard, then Crown jeweller,s at a cost of £28,500 in 1981.

Speaking about why William had chosen that ring to give to his betrothed he said: ‘It’s my mother’s engagement ring, and it’s very special to me, as Kate is very special to me now as well. It was only right the two were put together.

‘It was my way of making sure mother didn’t miss out on today and the excitement and the fact that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.’

Prince Harry and Meghan

Prince Harry’s proposal to Meghan Markle was perhaps more low key than William’s engagement in Kenya.

The pair had just been together a year and a half before Harry asked Meghan to be his wife on November 4 2017.

In the couple’s engagement video with the BBC’s Mishal Hussain, Harry told of how he popped the question: ‘It happened a few weeks ago, earlier this month, here at our cottage; just a standard typical night for us.’

Meghan disclosed they were having a ‘cosy night in’ at Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace estate, ‘trying to roast a chicken’ when it happened.

In his bombshell memoir, Spare, Harry went in to even more detail about the night he ‘surprised Meghan’.

He ‘led her out to the garden’ on a ‘cold night’, got down one one knee on a blanket surrounded by ‘electric candles’.

Harry wrote: ‘I wanted it to look like Botswana, the bush, where I first thought of the proposing.’

In the couple’s Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, the Prince claimed he had not been allowed to propose abroad.

He said: ‘I wanted to do it earlier, because I needed to ask permission from my grandmother, I couldn’t do it outside of the UK.’

Some expressed puzzlement at this as his brother William had proposed in Kenya.

Zara and Mike Tindall

Zara and Mike Tindall are known for stepping away from royal convention – and their proposal was no different.

They didn’t overdo the pomp or circumstance.

As former England rugby captain Mike explained to The Daily Mail: ‘I was upstairs, plucking up the nerve to do it, while Zara was downstairs watching television. 

‘It was all about shock value – I wanted to catch her when it was quiet and she wasn’t expecting anything.’

The couple had been at home in their Regency town house in Cheltenham on December 21, 2010.

He added: ‘I walked in there and got down on one knee, with the ring. She was on the sofa, so that made it easier. I said, ‘Will you marry me?”

‘She started laughing. She was completely in shock. Then, when she stopped laughing, she said, “Yes.” 

‘That was a relief.’

The pair later shared a photo outside their snow-covered home to tell of the engagement.

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

Jack Brooksbank’s proposal to Princess Eugenie was one of the most spectacular Royal proposals.

The couple were watching the sunset over a volcano in Nicaragua on January 1 2018 when Jack popped the question.

The couple later told BBC’s the One Show that they had been looking over the lake as the ‘sun was setting’ and ‘birds were flying’ before he got down on one knee.

Princess Eugenie said at the time: ‘The lake was so beautiful. The light was just a special light I had never seen. I actually said this is an incredible moment, and then he popped the question, which was really surprising even though we have been together seven years.

‘I was over the moon. [It was a] complete surprise. But it was the perfect moment, we couldn’t be happier.

‘Granny actually knew right at the beginning [of the engagement]. We left her this weekend and had a lovely time, and she was very happy, as was my grandfather.

‘We literally just told out mother and fathers and brothers and sisters and our grandparents.’

The proposal was said to have been a surprise even though they had been in a relationship for ‘several years’.

She added that she was ‘over the moon, crying’ and that her ‘Granny was very happy’.

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Multi-millionaire business mogul, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, proposed to Princess Beatrice while standing on a terrace with views of the Amalfi Coast in September 2019.

The couple, who had known each other since childhood but only been together romantically for 11 months at the point of their engagement, made the announcement on Instagram accompanied by a photo taken by Princess Eugenie.

The post read: ‘We are extremely happy to be able to share the news of our recent engagement.

‘We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together and can’t wait to actually be married.

‘We share so many similar interests and values, and we know that this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness.’

In the photo Beatrice showed off her £100,000 3.5 carat diamond engagement ring along with a £2,730 Cartier love bracelet.

The couple had been staying at the £3,000-a-night Le Sirenuse Hotel in Positano, Italy, the same accommodation Meghan Markle stayed in on her girls trip a few months before she met prince Harry.

An insider at the hotel said at the time: ‘Mr Mozzi proposed on the terrace at the bar next to the swimming pool. It was in the evening as the sun went down. We have the most amazing sunsets. It was very romantic.’

King Charles and Princess Diana

Just six months after Prince Charles and Diana started seeing each other, there was a proposal. 

They had only met 13 times beforehand.

Charles, then 32, proposed to 19-year-old Diana in the nursery at Windsor Castle on February 3 1981.

The engagement was then announced publicly on February 24 1981.

The proposal itself was said to be brief and seemingly less romantic than some others. 

Andrew Morton in his book Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words, suggested that Charles didn’t even get down on one knee.

Describing the proposal, he claims Diana thought it was a joke when he ‘asked her simply to marry him’.

‘The Prince was deadly serious, emphasising the earnestness of his proposal by reminding her that one day she would be Queen,’

‘While a small voice inside her head told her that she would never become Queen but would have a tough life, she found herself accepting his offer and telling him repeatedly how much she loved him. “Whatever love means,” he replied’.

Charles would come out with the same uncomfortable phrase during a photo call following their engagement, where a reported asked if they were in love.

Diana replied ‘of course’ followed by Charles who added ‘whatever love means’.

The couple later divorced in 1996, a year before Diana’s death. Charles became engaged to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. 

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson

Prince Andrew proposed to Sarah Ferguson at Floors Castle in Scotland on his 26th birthday in 1982.

It was a place the couple held close to their hearts as it was where they had first kissed.

He proposed with a Garrard ring with a Burmese ruby surrounded by 10 diamonds on a yellow gold band.

Later he described the ring as ‘unconventional’ adding ‘We came to the mutual conclusion that red was probably the best colour for Sarah.’

Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones

Speculation mounted for some time over when Prince Edward would finally propose to his girlfriend of five years, Sophie Rhys-Jones.

But during a winter break to Bahamas in 1998, he finally popped the question.

Edward later said he ‘managed to take her completely by surprise, she had no idea it was coming’.

Sophie said she was ‘slightly stunned’ when he asked the question, before suddenly realising she needed to answer the question.

Speaking to reporters about their engagement a few weeks later on January 6 1999 at St James’ Palace, Prince Edward said: ‘It’s impossible to understand why it has taken me this long, but I don’t think it would have been right before and I don’t think she would have said yes.’

When asked what makes them get along so well, Sophie said: ‘I think we share a number of interests, we laugh a lot and we have a great friendship.’

To which Edward later added: ‘We are the very best of friends and that’s essential, but it also helps that we also love each other very much.’

Prince Edward proposed with a three-diamond ring also from the royal jeweller Garrard.

Princess Anne and Mark Phillips

There is little known about Princess Anne’s engagement to her now former husband, army lieutenant Mark Phillips.

The announcement was made publicly, however, on May 29 1973 with the pair being married later that year in a ceremony that was viewed by approximately 500 million people worldwide.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip

It was reported at the time that Prince Philip had originally proposed to Princess Elizabeth in the summer of 1946, while they were at Balmoral, Scotland.

But it was only in April 1947 that King George VI gave his then 21-year-old daughter permission to marry the 26-year-old Navy Officer.

The news was announced publicly on July 9 that year, followed by a photo call at Buckingham Palace.

Philip had used diamonds from his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg – diamonds, that could be traced back to the Romanovs –  to help design the engagement ring and a future wedding bracelet for his wife.