PRINCE Harry's aides have been told to start planning for him to wed US actress Meghan Markle, it has been revealed.
Senior royals are believed to have been told to check their diaries for a suitable date to wed the two lovers, who have kept quiet on rumours of their engagement since appearing together at the Invictus Games.
The date planning is the clearest sign yet that the prince will take the beautiful young actress to be his lawfully wedded wife.
And the revelation comes just days after Ms Markle and her royal lover are said to have held a private meeting with the Queen, in what insiders claim could have been a call for her Majesty to give the couple her blessing.
It is believed the pair will marry in a low-profile ceremony, as Ms Markle, a divorcee, is ineligible to have a religious wedding under church rules.
Instead the pair would have their matrimony blessed before taking part in a civil ceremony later.
The pair will announce their engagement this year, it is believed, but not until a very special royal date at the end of November.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk that the moment royal watchers are all waiting for will not happen until after the end of November.
He claims this is because the pair will not want to take the limelight away from the Queen and Prince Philip, who celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20.
Mr Fitzwilliams insisted that Prince Harry, 33, will pop the question to his US-born beauty very soon.
Prince Harry may even have asked the Suits actress already, but is waiting for his grandparents’ anniversary to pass before making a formal announcement.
He told Express.co.uk: “We are confidently expecting an engagement between Harry and Meghan.
“But it isn't likely to be announced before the Queen and the Duke's Platinum Wedding Anniversary in November.”
Mr Fitzwilliams said an engagement was likely after Ms Markle, 36, revealed how her life was turned upside down after news of her relationship with Harry broke.
Speaking out about her royal boyfriend for the first time, the Suits actress spoke candidly about her "great love story" amid a whirlwind of rumours and gossip about the celebrity couple during an interview with Vanity Fair.
And the blossoming romance was sealed when the pair appeared together for the first time in public during Harry’s Invictus Games, where the couple were seen kissing and canoodling in the stadium stands.
American-born Meghan also brought her mother, Doria Ragland, along to the sporting competition, founded by the prince to help wounded servicemen.
But Mr Fitzwilliams warned royal watchers that the couple probably won't appear in public for a while now.
He said: “I doubt Harry and Meghan will appear publicly more often than they have to.
“His visceral feelings towards the press are famous, they both currently control the story and the access.
“But the engagement of the world's most eligible bachelor to an American divorcee who is also a high profile actress is manna from heaven for the media.”
But he said Meghan’s high profile status as an actress means she has the ideal experience to “cope with life in the public eye”.