Harry’s proposal to Meghan was accepted as they prepared chicken dinner

Prince Harry proposed to fiancee Meghan Markle during a cosy night in as they cooked a roast chicken dinner, 16 months after the pair first met on a blind date.

Harry was the perfect romantic and got down on one knee to ask for her hand in marriage and Ms Markle could not wait to say “yes”.

He describe how “it was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life”.

Harry’s moving comments came in a joint interview with Meghan at Kensington Palace to mark their engagement announcement, and as the pair sat side by side they held hands.

They also discussed, with BBC broadcaster Mishal Husain, how Ms Markle has met the Queen twice, an individual she described as an “incredible woman”.

While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been supportive with Meghan praising Kate, a commoner who married into the royal family, as “wonderful”.

The pair met after a mutual friend, who they declined to name, set them up on a blind date, with the prince having no idea who Meghan was but was left “beautifully surprised” when she walked into the room.

During the interview Ms Markle confirmed she is giving up her acting career after it was widely reported she had left the hit series Suits.

Asked about her “new role” Meghan suggested she would become a full-time royal, saying: “I’m excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here, smaller organisations that are working on causes that I’ve always been passionate about under this umbrella, and also being able to go round to the Commonwealth, I think it’s just the beginning.”

Harry said the proposal came a few weeks ago while they were at his home, Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.

Ms Markle added: “Just a cosy night, it was – what we were doing just roasting chicken…”

She described it as “just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee”.

The former actress went on to say: “As a matter of fact I could barely let you finish proposing, I said – can I say yes now?”

The pair are to marry in a church wedding in the spring next year.

While Harry admitted he had never seen Ms Markle before their blind date in the summer of 2016, Ms Markle confessed her knowledge about the prince was also limited.

Before their first meeting she asked the mutual friend who set them up: “‘I have one question’ which was, ‘Well, is he nice?’ ‘cos if he wasn’t kind, it just didn’t seem like it would make sense and so we went and we… met for a drink and I think very quickly into that we said, ‘well what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again’.”

They described their courtship, revealing that a few weeks after the blind date, and a follow-up outing, Harry persuaded her to go to Botswana for a five-day break, and once they were an item they worked at sustaining the long-distance romance.

A couple of months into the relationship Harry said he realised he still needed to have frank conversations with her, to say “you know what you’re letting yourself in for”.

He also talked about his belief in what they could achieve together as a royal couple, but said the priority was “making sure our relationship is always put first”.

The prince added: “But both of us have passions for wanting to make change, change for good, and with lots of young people running around the Commonwealth, that’s where we’ll spend most of our time.”

She is expected to become a duchess, as Kate Middleton did when she became the Duchess of Cambridge after saying her vows in 2011.

But unlike Kate, Ms Markle is not a future queen. Ms Markle will most probably become HRH the Duchess of Sussex, if Harry is made the Duke of Sussex by the Queen on the morning of his wedding.