15 Fascinating Stories of How the Royals Have Proposed

There were rumors that Eugenie and Jack got engaged toward the end of 2016 after the princess was seen wearing a ring on the third finger of her left hand, but it has since been reported that the band was more of a pre-engagement engagement ring.

The couple, who have been together for six years, actually got engaged early in January 2018 when they were on vacation in Nicaragua. In their engagement interview, Eugenie revealed that Jack went down on one knee after they watched the sun set over a volcano and that she cried.

She recalled, "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 . . . it was the perfect moment. We couldn't be happier."

Thanks to their engagement interview, we know a few choice details about Harry's proposal.

The prince managed to take his love of just over a year by surprise by NOT choosing a Hallmark-card occasion such as a birthday, anniversary, or Valentine's Day to pop the question. Instead, he waited until a normal evening at home, while they were roasting a chicken. Meghan revealed in their interview that it was "an amazing surprise; it was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee."

Prince Harry actually took a leaf out of Mike Tindall's book when it came to proposing. The former rugby player asked Harry's cousin Zara to marry him in December 2010 — just two months after William and Kate got engaged — while they were at home on the sofa watching television.

Mike later spoke about the moment in an interview, recalling that he was plucking up the courage upstairs before going down on one knee in their sitting room. Zara's reaction to her boyfriend of seven years? "She started laughing," Mike revealed. "She was completely in shock. Then, when she stopped laughing, she said, 'Yes.' That was a relief."

William's proposal was the stuff of romantic fiction, taking place up a mountain in the wilds of Kenya, surrounded by nature, and with one of the most famous rings in the world stashed in his backpack. The couple of seven years were on a safari vacation with friends, and William had planned a romantic night away just the two of them up on the slopes of Mount Kenya. They stayed at Rutundu Lodge, which overlooks a lake where they went fishing for rainbow trout.

William later revealed in their engagement interview, "I'd been planning it for a while, but as any guy out there will know, it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going . . . It was beautiful at the time. I had done a little bit of planning to show my romantic side."

William also revealed that he was something of a royal rebel in that he didn't ask Kate's father for his daughter's hand in marriage until after he had proposed. His reason? "The realization that he might actually say 'no' dawned upon me," William said. "So I thought if I ask Kate first, then he can't really say 'no.'"

What was intended to be a grand gesture of romance was ruined by a very British set of circumstances: the weather.

Peter had planned on proposing during a Champagne hot air balloon ride over the countryside with his girlfriend of five years, Autumn Kelly. However, on the day in question, it was raining too hard for the flight to take place, so instead he popped the question while they walked their dog in the downpour.

Autumn later revealed in an interview, "I certainly didn't see the question coming. I looked horrible in my wellies with wet hair."

Both Princess Eugenie and her cousin Prince William were following in the footsteps of their uncle Prince Edward when they got engaged overseas. In 1998, Edward proposed to his girlfriend of six years while they were on a Christmas vacation on Windermere Island in the Bahamas.

Prince Andrew took after his father, Prince Philip, when he proposed in Scotland. Andrew had been dating Sarah Ferguson for around 10 months when he decided to pop the question on his 26th birthday, and the backdrop was Floors Castle in Roxburghshire.

Sarah wrote in her autobiography, "As snow began to fall that night, I wasn't at all surprised to hear Andrew propose, and I accepted with all my heart, toasted with Champagne."

Charles and Diana had been dating for around six months when he proposed in Windsor, and at first Diana didn't take him seriously.

She told her biographer Andrew Morton, "He said, 'Will you marry me?' and I laughed. I remember thinking this is a joke, and I said, 'Yeah, OK,' and laughed. He was deadly serious. He said, 'You do realize that one day you will be queen?' And a voice said to me inside, 'You won't be queen, but you will have a tough role . . .' 'Yes,' I said: 'I love you so much, I love you so much.' He said, 'Whatever love means.' . . . and so he ran upstairs and rang his mother."

The pair had been dating for eight months when the former army captain got down on one knee and proposed early in 1973. They went public with their news shortly afterward on May 29, but have always kept tight-lipped about the details.

While the nation was scandalized by Margaret's relationship with Peter Townsend, it was taken by surprise with her secret engagement to society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones — which came three years after her previous relationship ended.

Margaret and Antony kept their romance under wraps and were staying at the queen's residence Balmoral when Margaret discovered that her former love was to marry. It has since been reported that she knew Antony was about to propose and asked him not to pop the question on the day she found out, but to postpone it, which he did, proposing shortly afterward.

It wasn't just Prince William who broke with proposal protocol by not asking Kate's father for his daughter's hand in marriage.

Over 60 years earlier, his grandmother the queen said yes to her own proposal without first asking for her parents' permission. The then-Princess Elizabeth was just 20 years old when Prince Philip asked him to marry her while he was staying with her and her family at Balmoral. The princess said yes immediately, but her parents insisted that the couple wait until after her 21st birthday to walk down the aisle.

The marriage between George VI and the Queen Mother was one of the most loving and supportive in recent royal history, but when the couple was first acquainted, the then-Prince Albert proposed three times before the object of his affections said yes.

He proposed for the first time to Elizabeth in 1921, but fearing the restrictions of marrying into the royal family, she turned him down, saying afterward she was ". . . afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak, and act as I feel I really ought to." The future king proposed again in 1922 and she turned him down for a second time before accepting his third proposal in January 1923 as they took a walk near her home in Hertforshire.

It has been reported that she later said, "I felt it my duty to marry Bertie, and fell in love with him afterwards."

A marriage of love and affection grew out of tragedy for George V and Queen Mary, as the then-princess was initially engaged to George's older brother, Prince Albert, but he died of pneumonia before their wedding day. George and Mary sought solace in each other's company before the future king proposed next to the pond in his sister's garden on April 29, 1893 — just over a year after his brother's death.

Edward VII had only met his future bride once before proposing in the Royal Palace of Laeken, Belgium.

Because Victoria was already queen by the time she was of marrying age, it was her responsibility to propose rather than that of her beau, Prince Albert.

The young queen wrote in her diary, which was later made public, "At about 12.30 I sent for Albert. He came to the closet where I was alone, and after a few minutes I said to him, that I thought he must be aware why I wished them to come here, and that it would make me too happy if he would consent to what I wished (to marry me); we embraced each other over and over again, and he was so kind, so affectionate . . . I really felt it was the happiest brightest moment in my life."