Meghan Markle's secret frantic phone call minutes before Prince Harry proposed

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared bombshell news on this day seven years ago.

That's because the couple announced to the world that they had become engaged and were to be married. The pair memorably posed for pictures in front of the world's press at Kensington Palace before sitting down to give an interview with the BBC.

In it, they revealed how they had been roasting a chicken when Harry popped the question, presenting Meghan with a beautiful engagement ring containing diamonds belonging to the late Princess Diana. But several years later, when Harry and Meghan's eagerly anticipated and controversial docuseries landed on Netflix, they had a slightly different version of events the night they became engaged.

Harry and Meghan on the night they got engaged (

Image:

Netflix)

Harry proposes to Meghan (

Image:

Netflix)

And it was revealed that Meghan actually made a secret phone call to a now-estranged pal as she twigged that Harry was about to get down on one knee. In the show, Harry told how he proposed to Meghan outside in the romantic candle-lit garden of Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Pala9ce, rather than inside the home, and shared a snap of himself down on one knee during the evening picnic before he asked Meghan to marry her.

In the show, he told how he 'wanted to do it earlier' but needed to secure permission from the Queen before asking Meghan, so couldn't do it outside the UK. Speaking of his proposal, Harry explained: "I did pop a bottle of champagne while she was roasting a chicken and that kind of slightly gave the game away.

"She was like, 'You never drink champagne, what's the occasion?' And I was like, 'I don't know, I just had it like, lying around,'" he joked, adding that they shared the special moment with her dog Guy whom she had flown over from America.

Meghan Markle with former close friend Jessica Mulroney (

Image:

WireImage)

"In the middle of the North garden, overlooked by the staff flats, I got 15 of those electric candles," Harry recalled, while Meghan admitted: "He told me not to peek," before a video is shown of Meghan filming herself in hushed tones telling friend Jess on the on the phone: "It's actually happening!"

Clearly trying to keep the call secret from Harry, she can be heard whispering: "Oh my God Jess, Jess, it's happening, it's happening. He told me not to peak." The couple were then seen posing with Meghan's dog Guy just moments after the Duchess said yes.

It is believed the call was to Jessica Mulroney, Meghan's former close pal, who she befriended while she lived in Toronto. However, it is now believed that the friendship has cooled. Also in the documentary, Harry and Meghan's friend Lucy Fraser told how the couple held a little engagement party before the public announcement, where Harry and Meghan dressed in penguin onesies.

She said: "They were so happy and they were going to keep it quiet because it was going to be announced a few weeks later." Instead of opting for glamorous ensembles, as they did at their engagement photocall and official engagement photos, the couple were much more casual.

"So we had a little engagement party and everyone was dressed in animal onesies. Meghan and Harry were in matching penguin onesies because penguins mate for life and they were so sweet. And we had so much fun," Lucy added.