reporter: congratulations from all of us! how are you both feeling? thrilled! this was the year in which prince harry introduced his new leading lady, the american actress, meghan markle. the fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly, was sort of confirmation to me that everything, all the stars were after 70 years of public service, the duke of edinburgh, britain's longest—serving royal consort, hung up his hat and retired from royal duties. prince george had his own milestone moment — his first day of school. and flexing their royal muscles in an effort to put the issue of mental health firmly on the national agenda. after weeks of fevered speculation came confirmation that prince harry, the fifth in line to the throne,

was engaged to the american actress, meghan markle. the happy couple appeared in the grounds of kensington palace, which will be her new home. this was only the second time they had appeared together for the cameras. reporter: harry, when did you know she was the one? the very first time we met! later, in a candid interview with the bbc‘s mishal husain, they revealed they'd met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend. in early november, while preparing a roast chicken dinner, harry popped the question. it was just an amazing surprise. it was so sweet and natural and very romantic. he got on one knee. of course. was it an instant yes from you? yes, as a matter of fact, i could barely let him finish proposing. i said, "can i say yes now?!" she said, "can i say yes, can i say yes?" then there was hugs i had the ring in my finger. i was like, "can i

give you the ring?" she was, like, "oh, yes, the ring!" so, no, it was a really nice moment, just the two of us, and i think i managed to catch her by surprise as well. the fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly was sort of confirmation to me that everything, all of the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect. it was this beautiful woman had just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life, i had fell into her life, and the fact that i know that she will be unbelievably good at the job part of it as well, is obviously a huge relief to me because she will be able to deal with everything else that comes with it. in the case of your relationship, unlike for most people, there is this whole layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family, how much of a sense did you have, meghan, of the enormity of what you were getting into? what it might mean for your life? i think i can very safely say, as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half, i didn't have any understanding ofjust what it would be like. i don't think either of us did, we both said that, even though

we knew that it would be... i tried to warn you as much as possible but i think both of us were totally surprised by the reaction after the first five, six months that we had to ourselves, of what actually happened from then. so i think you can have as many conversations as you want and try to prepare as much as possible but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that. the scrutiny? well, all sorts. and some of that scrutiny — and you ended up making a very public statement about it — some of that scrutiny was centred around your ethnicity, meghan. when you realized that, what did you think? of course it is disheartening. you know, it is a shame that that is the climate in this world, to focus that much on that, or that that would be discriminatory in that sense, but i think, at the end of the day, i am reallyjust proud of who i am and where i come from and we have never put any focus on that, we have just focused on who we are as a couple.

it is an immense change, you are getting a new country out of it, a husband, obviously, but also giving up your career. sounds nice, doesn't it? yes, it does sound nice. but i don't see it as giving anything up, ijust see it as a change. it is a new challenge. it is a new chapter. and also keep in mind, i have been working on my show seven years. so we were very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series and, for me, once we hit the 100 episode mark, i thought, you know what? i have ticked this box and i feel very proud of the work i have done there and now it is time, as you said, work as a team with you? and meghan, your parents, do you think while very happy for you, obviously, do you think they have worried about the scale of what you're getting into? well, i'm sure at the onset, both my parents and my close friends, were concerned

because we got very quickly swept up in a media storm that was not part of my life before that but they also had never seen me so happy. and once my friends were able to really meet harry and my mum, who we spent a lot of time with, it was so much fun. your mum is amazing. it was just obvious that, no matter what we were being put through, that it was just temporary and that we were going to be able to get through that so everybody was really happy. he's talked to my dad a few times, he has not been able to meet him just yet, but it has all been worth every effort. have you met the queen? i have, yes. a couple of times. what was that like? it is incredible. to be able to meet her through his lens, notjust with his honour and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has

for her as his grandmother. all of those layers have been so important for me, so when i met her i had such a deep understanding and, of course, incredible respect for being able to have the time with her. she is an incredible woman. and the corgis took to you straightaway! that's true. for the last 33 years i have been barked at! this one walks in and just absolutely nothing. just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet. your ring, tell us about your ring. the ring is obviously yellow gold because that is her favourite. and the main stone itself i sourced from botswana, and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection, to make sure she is with us on this crazy journey together. it is beautiful, and he designed it. it is incredible. yeah. make sure it stays on that finger!

of course! what does it mean to you to have those stones on your finger, that once belonged to princess diana? i think everything about harry's thoughtfulness and the inclusion of that and obviously not being able to meet his mom, it is so important for me to know that she is a part of this with us. what do you think your mother would have thought of meghan or said about meghan? they would have been as thick as thieves, without question. she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me. she would have probably been best friends with meghan. it is days like today that i really miss having her around and being able to share the happy news but with the ring and with everything else going on, i'm sure she's... she's with us. i am sure she is with us, yeah, jumping up and down somewhere else. meghan‘s soon to be in—laws could not have been happier. reporter: congratulations, sir.

what do you think about the engagement? very kind. we are thrilled, thank you very much, for both of them. i hope they'll be very happy indeed. that is all i can say. absolutely thrilled, it is brilliant. as i said, america's loss is our gain. for me personally, i hope it means he stays out of my fridge! stop him scrounging off of my food as he's done in the last few years! deeply excited. despite freezing temperatures, the people of nottingham gave them a very warm welcome. this was meghan‘s first royal walkabout and she handled it with aplomb. she seems really full of life and down to earth as well. my gosh, actually, i think she is wonderful, i watched interviews and everything, i think she is great. meghan has committed to the uk. she will apply for british

citizenship and has left suits, the tv show which made her famous. thank you so much. congratulations! royal fans have until may to get their flags and hats ready for the couple's wedding at windsor castle. a very cold day here in nottingham does seem a world away from los angeles and the acting world but this is what meghan markle is now signed up to. she will be meeting the public across the uk and the commonwealth, she has become a key member of team windsor, in the same year as another key member has finally announced his retirement. for seven decades, this is an image to which the public has become accustomed. the queen accompanied by britain's longest—serving consort, prince philip, together with him a couple of steps behind. this was a significant day as the announcement had just been made that he was to retire from public duties. he was in customary good humour, chatting to the members of the order of merit, swapping stories about hearing aids... we have all got them!

and joking about retirement. "standing down, i can't stand up much longer," he replied. the duke's decision was not health—related but, at 96, he felt he had done his bit. as he had remarked the previous day... you are seeing the world's most experienced plaque unveiler. laughter. it was a surprise, but not really a surprise. although having for many years heard it is a job from which you cannot retire. he has just proved that actually it might be possible to retire, which is quite good for the rest of us. wherever he's been, wherever in the world, people will still remember him and will continue to remember him, and you can't really get a better accolade than that.

over the years, the duke has completed more than 22,000 solo engagements. encouraged millions of young people in more than 60 countries to challenge themselves through the duke of edinburgh's award. where did you do your expedition? i did it in the north... did you get lost? a bit. archive: and he had time to discuss with indian officials the problems of conserving... and an early advocate of environmental issues through his presidency of the world wildlife fund. but it'll be his unwavering support for the queen in this, the year of their platinum wedding anniversary, which will be seen as his greatest achievement. they were married in 1947. in the gloom of post—war britain, their wedding was described by sir winston churchill as a flash of colour. she, the future queen, and he the dashing naval officer. in the years since, he has travelled the world with her and been her companion both in public and private.

injune, it was illness rather than retirement which prevented the duke from being at the queen's side at the state opening of parliament. prince charles took his place. but going forward, this will become the norm and, although the palace has been keen to emphasise that for the queen it is still business as usual, the gradual transition of roles and responsibilities from one generation to the next has noticeably accelerated this year. last post sounds. most significantly in november. for the first time in her 65—year reign, the queen was present at the service of remembrance at the cenotaph, in london, but she did not lay a wreath. instead, she watched from the foreign office balcony, alongside her husband, as her son and heir laid a wreath on her behalf. the duke will continue to support the queen at events of his choosing. god save the queen plays.

but this was his final official public engagement. fittingly, for a former royal navy officer, it was a parade for the royal marines in front of the palace, which has been his london home for so many decades. royal marines: hip hip hooray! hip hip hooray! the band's rousing sendoff could not have been more appropriate. band plays for he's a jolly good fellow. the uk's exit from the european union edges ever closer and new relationships need to be formed in europe and beyond, and, as this year has shown, the royal family is uniquely placed to carry out soft diplomacy, spreading a little stardust while reinforcing those old bonds of friendship. in the united kingdom,

irish people make such an extraordinary and essential contribution to so many parts of our society and our economy. polish is now the second most spoken language in the uk, with a generation of young people growing up who feel both british and polish.

september, and some high—profile bilateral meetings for prince harry in canada. but this trip was not at the behest of the foreign office. he was there to help make his brainchild, the invictus games, the biggest and best yet. for eight days, more than 500 athletes from 17 countries took part. all of them had been damaged either physically or mentally in the course of serving their countries. the invictus games were harry's idea to help them on their road to recovery. right now, you are on a high, at the summit of a mountain many of you thought was too high to climb.

you have done it, this is the moment, right here, right now, shoulder to shoulder, you are invictus! applause. the sydney games will take place in october in what is shaping up to be a busy 2018 for prince harry. tonight on panorama... the offshore secrets of the rich and powerful out in the open. in a year in which royal headlines were overwhelmingly positive, early november was an exception. the queen and prince charles were drawn into a global media story looking into offshore investment funds. a leak of millions of documents revealed that the duchy of lancaster, the queen's private estate, had invested £10 million in funds based in bermuda and the cayman islands. not illegal, but questions were asked as to whether be how the monarch‘s

cash is invested. as prince charles toured the far east, the same questions were being asked of his private estate, the duchy of cornwall, as well as investing offshore, the prince was also accused of a conflict of interest in relation to a particular investment. clarence house was robust in their denial of any wrongdoing. the fact that both the queen and the prince of wales voluntarily pay tax on the income from their private estates did not stop calls for greater transparency in the royal finances in the wake of these revelations. in times of tragedy, it is the role of the monarch to help console and unite the nation, and sadly, this year, the queen and other members of the royal family have been called upon to perform this duty all too often. starting here in westminster in march, when five people were killed. two days after the terror attack, prince charles met some of the staff

at kings college hospital, one of several places the injured were treated. westminster abbey and the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harryjoined members of the emergency services and relatives of those who were killed. the message from the service was one of hope, but that proved to be short lived. in manchester, just a few weeks later, 22 people, including children, were killed, and many more injured as they left a concert by the pop singer ariana grande. you had enjoyed the concert? it was really good. i got to meet her before the concert. did you? she won a competition with her friend to meet backstage. the queen met some of those recovering in the city's children's hospital.

very interesting how everybody has united, haven't they, here? it has been amazing. really amazing. it's helped. good. no one should have to suffer the losses you have endured yet no one could have endured them with greater fortitude. even amid the unimaginable horror of that attack, with the killing of innocent children, we saw outstanding examples of incredible courage. earlyjune and now all—too—familiar scenes. prince charles accompanied by the duchess of cornwall visited the royal london hospital in the aftermath of the london bridge attack. later that month, a community devastated, this time by fire. we were evacuated. the flames were just unbelievable.

you have done a brilliantjob, in unprecedented circumstances... two days after the grenfell tower burned, the queen and prince william listened to some of those who tried to help. six months later, watched by members of the royal family, school children who lived near the tower scattered green hearts in memory of those who died. this was a national service of remembrance, community and hope that a tragedy such as this would never be repeated. princes william and harry were just 15 and 12 when their mother, diana, princess of wales, died. by their own admission, in the years since they had spoken very little about the impact on them of her death but this year, 20 years on, they decided to open up

about their own trauma and their hope was they could start a national conversation around the issue of mental health. this was the year william, catherine and harry showed how persuasive a campaigning force they could be. their initiative, heads together, was picked as a london marathon lead charity. that high—profile event enabled them to highlight mental health and the stigma which can surround it. it was your idea. no, it was your idea. it was the common thread, mental health, it seemed to run between military with your self and addiction with me and bereavement, there was the underlying threat of mental health. the pressures on children these days are more than for us, you have so many things to worry about, whether it is struggling with exams or home life or friends and then the social media angle.

you can understand why that, coupled with staring at the screen the whole time, that a lot of issues will build from that. it is always sold as if everybody else's life is perfect and you think, there must be something wrong with me. if you can have a family environment where you can talk openly about your issues, that means working better at yourjob, doing better at school, it goes on and on. it was a very personal campaign for the princes, they took part in a bbc documentary following a group of people with mental health issues as they trained for the marathon. the shock is the biggest thing and 20 years later, i still have shock within me about my mother, shock cannot last that long, people think, but it does. you never get over it, such an unbelieveably big moment in your life and it never leaves you, you just learn to deal with it. it can have been no coincidence that william and harry chose this year to open up about their mother.

in august, just as had been the case in 1997, the gates guarding kensington palace were strewn with flowers and other tributes to diana, princess of wales. a reminder that her memory lives on in the public consciousness. looking at them, it was impossible not to think back to the young princes in the days following diana's death in a car accident in paris. 20 years on, harry spoke of the shock they both felt. as part of their mental health campaign, william and catherine appeared on radio 1. it is friday the 21st of april, it is 4pm and this is very special official chart. between now and 5:45pm we will bring you the big stories, new entries, high climbers and the top ten in full! in a very informal interview with dj scott mills, they painted a picture of life behind the palace walls. are you allowed to order a takeaway if you want to?

absolutely! definitely. pizza, chinese? curry! we are finding out so much! what do you watch on television, if anything? the crown? do you think, it's not like that at all! people have asked me about that, we are big on box sets, once we get time in the evening. once the kiddies are in bed. you have to watch all those children's programmes as well? yes, lots of children's programmes! some of them are really good, but you have to pretend you're really interested because george gets very upset if you're not showing due diligence to the characters. starting in september, prince george will have had less time to watch television as he started school. he had to undertake this rite of passage with only daddy for company as his mother was suffering from severe morning sickness. he is now a reception pupil

at thomas' battersea, a mixed fee—paying school in southwest london. his classmates know him simply as george cambridge. looking ahead to 2018, the royal family is set to look a little different. princess charlotte, there will be a new sibling for prince george and princess charlotte, and alsojoining their ranks, a californian born actress and soon—to—be wife of prince harry. it was a little on the wintry side for some of us this morning but in

the grand scheme of things, not an awful amount of snow at all and for many of us it will be the ice that is the problem tonight and tomorrow after the rain fell across the country and the sleet and snow. the last of it clearing away this afternoon from the far east of the country, and then icy patches developing across mostly the southern half of the uk, because this is where the weather has been wettest. some slash still lying around. in the north of scotland, in rural areas a very cold night, temperatures falling as low as —10, lowest the mat —— lower than that. tomorrow for many of us a bright, crisp sort of day with temperatures only around three or 4 degrees, maybe a bit of rain getting into the far, far west and tip of cornwall, but for most of us, a beautiful sunny day. some freezing fog early in the day in northern ireland, which may just in the day in northern ireland, which mayjust linger into the early afternoon but i suspect by three o'clock it should be gone. across scotland, a few wintry showers. there is a potentialfor a little

bit more snow in the next day or two. this is what will be happening tomorrow evening. this is the forecast for thursday night and friday. cold and frosty in the evening, then watch what happens early on friday morning, snow heads to northern ireland, at least parts of it coming to wales, northern england, just parts of southern scotla nd england, just parts of southern scotland as well. very difficult to say if it will settle in the towns and cities but certainly across the upland areas, the pennines, the peak district, it is likely there will be further snow. by the time we get to the afternoon, friday afternoon, it looks like the rush of atlantic winds will mean temperatures will rise and fall of that will eventually tu rn rise and fall of that will eventually turn to rain. a spell of what we call transient snow, only lasting a little while, which is not great news, because it is the rush hour on friday morning. as rushy as it gets in this time of year. towards the south on saturday, turning mild, 13 degrees, still single figures across the north of the country. the weekend, the new year weekend, is looking very u nsettled. year weekend, is looking very unsettled. the winds will continue to increase, there will be spells of

rain and showers coming through. that looks like on the stroke of midnight in the 2018, the weather mightjust clear midnight in the 2018, the weather might just clear enough to midnight in the 2018, the weather mightjust clear enough to give us mostly dry weather, but there is a lwa ys mostly dry weather, but there is always a risk of showers during the course of new year's eve. be prepared for that. most of us should just about get away with a dry welcomed the 2018. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: the first of a group of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel—held area of damascus. motorists are being warned that snow and ice are causing disruption to motorways in england and wales. stansted airport was closed earlier, after snow caused all flights to be suspended for several hours. and thousands of properties are without electricity, mostly in the midlands. also in the next hour: prince harry tells how he sees his future role as a senior royal. while guest editing radio 4's today programme,

he promises to remain above politics, but shine a light on certain issues and causes. i will continue to do... to play my pa rt i will continue to do... to play my part in society and do myjob to the best of my abilities,