Israeli President Reuven Rivlin may have been the first world leader to congratulate Britain’s Prince Harry on his engagement to Meghan Markle, an American actress.
The couple posed for photographers on the grounds of Kensington Palace hours after their engagement was announced by Harry’s father, Prince Charles.
Harry, 33, wearing a blue suit and tie, said he was “over the moon.” Asked when he knew Markle was “the one,” he said: “Very first time we met.”
Markle, 36, said she was “so very happy.” She wore a belted white coat and held Harry’s hand as photographers focused on her engagement ring.
Palace officials said Harry designed the ring himself. It features two diamonds that belonged to his late mother Princess Diana, and a central diamond from Botswana, a country he and Markle have visited together.
Rivlin immediately posted his congratulations on Twitter and invited the royal couple to honeymoon in Israel. “Sending our warmest regards to Her Majesty the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, all the Royal Family & the British people, from Nechama & me, & all the Israeli people. We invite them to enjoy their honeymoon in Israel!”
Prince Charles told reporters he was “thrilled” with the engagement. Congratulations also came in from the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, and from Prime Minister Theresa May. Markle’s parents also welcomed the news.
The marriage represents a first-ever blending of Hollywood glamor with the once-stuffy royal family, which has of late seemed less fixed in its ways, and brings a mixed-race American divorcee into a highly visible role.
It won’t be the first time that a British royal has married an American or a divorced person. In 1936, Edward VIII famously abdicated after he was forced to choose between the monarchy and his relationship with twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.
The couple plans to live in Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace, where they will be neighbors to Prince William and Kate and other members of the royal family.