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By James Crawford-Smith
Royal Reporter
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary with the couple weeks away from making a return to the U.K for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
From their romantic date night at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto to the spectacular interview with Oprah Winfrey and beyond, Newsweek looks at Meghan and Harry's biggest relationship milestones so far.
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The First Statement
Harry and Meghan began dating in 2016 after meeting through a joint friend. The couple were able to enjoy six months of privacy before their relationship was made public. Following intense press attention towards Meghan in the wake of their relationship becoming known to the media, Harry published an unprecedented statement confirming their relationship and admonishing the exploitative and, in some cases, racist coverage of his girlfriend.
"It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm," the statement read. "He knows commentators will say this is 'the price she has to pay' and that 'this is all part of the game'. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game - it is her life and his."
Invictus Games 2017
The couple did not make an official appearance together at a public event until Harry's 2017 Invictus Games which were held in Toronto, the Canadian city in which Meghan was living while filming her hit TV show Suits.
Meghan attended a wheelchair tennis match on the arm of her prince and at the closing ceremony, the world got their first glimpse of a kiss as Harry leaned in to show his girlfriend a public display of affection.
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Engagement
Not long after the Invictus Games, Meghan was increasingly seen in London, spending time with Harry at his home, Nottingham Cottage inside the walls of Kensington Palace.
On November 27, 2017, the couple announced their engagement to the press in the palace's sunken garden. In an interview recorded soon after the announcement was made Harry and Meghan revealed that the prince proposed while the couple were spending a quiet evening at home roasting a chicken. It was announced that the wedding would take place the following May.
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First Royal Walkabout
Meghan's first taste of royal work was when she attended the Terrance Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair in Nottingham with Harry. This was the couple's first joint walkabout where they were able to get up close and personal with members of the public since their engagement.
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Royal Christmas
In a rare break with tradition, Queen Elizabeth II invited Meghan to attend the royal family's Christmas day celebrations at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The monarch would not usually have invited the partner of one of her family members if they were not yet married but for Meghan, an exception was made.
When the time came for the royals to walk to the traditional Church service on Christmas morning, Meghan and Harry were photographed side by side with Prince William and Kate Middleton for the first time and Meghan also made her first public curtsey to the queen.
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Wedding
Harry and Meghan's wedding in May 2018 was one of the highlights of the royal year with an estimated 1.9 billion global viewers tuning in to watch.
Meghan's dress was designed by Clare Waight Bonner for the French fashion house Givenchy and in the evening she changed into a Stella McCartney halterneck silk gown.
The road to the altar was not always smooth for Harry and Meghan. Days before the wedding the bride's father, Thomas Markle, was caught collaborating with paparazzi and experienced health problems meaning he was not able to travel to Britain from America. Prince Charles met his future daughter-in-law halfway down the aisle at St George's Chapel and escorted her to Harry.
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South Pacific Tour
After their marriage Harry and Megan—now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—focused their attention on their royal work. In the autumn of 2018, the couple was asked to undertake an official royal tour of the South Pacific including Tonga, Australia and New Zealand. Shortly before the tour, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.
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Birth of Archie
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6, 2019, just under a year from Harry and Meghan's first wedding anniversary. To keep the press from intruding, the announcement that Meghan had gone into labor was delayed and there was no traditional post-birth photocall on the steps of the hospital. Instead, the new royal baby was introduced to the public at Windsor Castle two days later and spent his first months at Harry and Meghan's Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage.
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Africa Tour
In September of 2019, the Sussexes undertook their second long-haul foreign tour taking in visits to South Africa, Malawi, Angola and Botswana. The couple took baby Archie along with them and he was photographed with his parents meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The Africa tour was a defining moment for Harry and Meghan as the public finally became aware that Meghan was struggling with royal life and the unrelenting press criticism. It was during this tour that Meghan gave an interview in which she was asked if she was OK to which she responded: "Thank you for asking. Not many people have asked if I'm OK."
According to the biography Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the couple flew to Canada to spend some time as a family recovering from the trip. It was here that their exit from the royal family developed.
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Last Full-Time Engagement
It was announced in the early months of 2020, following a period of discussions with the queen, Prince Charles and Prince William, that Harry and Meghan would step down as full-time working royals and work, as the couple wished, to become "financially independent."
The last official engagement that Harry and Meghan undertook was an appearance at the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 9. Shortly after the couple made the move to America where they remained throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, finally settling with their son in Santa Barbara, California.
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Oprah Interview
In March 2021 Harry and Meghan took part in an interview with neighbor Oprah Winfrey which sent shockwaves around the world and particularly through Buckingham Palace.
During the interview, the couple discussed their treatment as members of the royal family by the press, the public and the palace staff, as well as recounting an alleged racist encounter with an unnamed royal family member who made insensitive comments about the skin color of the couple's potential children.
In response to the interview, Buckingham Palace released a statement saying that the allegations were being taken seriously but that "recollections may vary."
Following the broadcast of the interview, Prince William responded to the racism allegation by telling the press "we're very much not a racist family."
The couple also discussed Meghan's second pregnancy with Winfrey which was an important highlight of their new life in America.
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Archewell
In October 2020 Harry and Meghan launched their own charitable foundation, Archewell to which would later be added audio and visual media production companies under the Archewell umbrella.
Through Archewell the couple found a way to further their charitable and philanthropic causes while being provided with an outlet through which to make formal announcements and engage with the public.
Birth of Lilibet
Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on June 4, 2021. Harry and Meghan chose two very special names for their daughter, Lilibet is the family nickname of the queen and Diana pays tribute to the late princess.
Invictus 2022
The Invictus Games 2022 were held in the Netherlands after two years of postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Harry and Meghan traveled to the event in their first joint public trip to Europe since their last royal engagement in 2020.
On the way to the games, the couple made a private visit to the queen in Britain ahead of her 96th birthday.
At the Invictus opening ceremony, Meghan introduced her husband to the stage in a heartwarming speech and the couple watched several events together before Meghan returned to the U.S to be with Archie and Lilibet.
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Jubilee 2022
Harry and Meghan are due to face another milestone in their relationship in two weeks' time as they have announced they will travel to the U.K for the central weekend of celebrations for the queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The visit will mark the first time the couple have attended a public event in the U.K. since the interview with Winfrey and will also be the first time that they introduce Lilibet to the monarch.
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