Of the duke of edinburgh, Sarah Campbell looks back on the key events in review 2017 the royal year. Congratulations from all of us how are you feeling . This was the year in which prince harry introduced his new leading lady. The american actress, Meghan Markle. I fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly, that was confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned and everything was perfect. After 70 years of public service, the duke of edinburgh, britains 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. When did you know she was the one . The very first time we met later, in a candid interview with the bbcs mishal husain, they admitted they met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend. In november, while preparing a Roast Chicken dinner, harry popped the question. It was such a surprise, so sweet and very romantic. He got down on one knee. Was that an instant yes from you . Yes, i could barely let him finish proposing can i say yes . she did not even let me finish. And then there was hugging. I had the ring on my finger. Can i give you the ring . Yes, the ring it was a really nice moment, just the two of us, and i managed to catch her by surprise as well. The fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly was confirmation to me that all of the stars were aligned and everything was perfect. This beautiful woman had just tripped and fell into my life, i had fell into her life, and i know that she will be unbelievably good at the job, that is obviously a huge relief to me because she will be able to do with Everything Else that comes with it. Unlike most people, there is this layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family, how much of a sense did you have of the enormity of what youre getting into . What it might mean for your life . I can safely say, as naive as it sounds, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half, i didnt have any understanding of just what it would be like. I dont think either of us did, we both said that, even though. 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 or six months that we had to ourselves, of what happened from then on. 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. The scrutiny . And some of that scrutiny meant you ended up making a very Public Statement about that, some of that was centred around your ethnicity, meghan, what did you think . Of course it is disheartening, it is a shame that that is the climate in this world, to focus that much on that, or for it be discriminatory in that sense, but at the end of the day, i am just 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, and a husband, obviously, but giving up your career. Yes. But i dont see it as giving anything up, i see this as a change. It is a new challenge. It is a new chapter. And have been working on my show seven years. So we were very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series and once we had the 100th episode mark, i thought i had ticked this box and i feel very proud of the work i have done and now it is time. To work as a team with you . And your parents, very happy for you, obviously, do you think they are worried about the scale of what youre getting into . Im sure the onset, with my parents and my close friends, they were concerned because we were 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, it was so much fun. Your mum is amazing. It was just obvious. 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 has talked to my dad a few times, he has not been able to meet him yet, but it has been worth every effort. Have you met the queen . Yes, a couple of times. It is incredible. To be able to meet 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 for 33 years i have barked at theyd just lay at my feet during tea tell us about your ring. The ring is yellow gold because that is her favourite. And the main stone was sourced from botswana and the little diamonds on the side are from my mothers jewellery collection to make sure she is with us on this crazy journey together. It is beautiful, and he designed it. It s incredible. Yes. 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 harrys thoughtfulness and the inclusion of that and obviously not being able to meet his mother, it is so important for me to know that she is part of this with us. What do you think your mother would have thought of 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. We would have been best friends with meghan. It is days like today that i really miss having her around and being able to share this happy news but with the ring and Everything Else going on. I am sure she is with us, jumping up and down somewhere else. Meghans soon to be in laws could not have been happier. What do you think about the engagement . We are thrilled, thank you very much. For both of them. I hope they are very happy indeed. That is all i can say. Absolutely thrilled, it is brilliant. Americas loss is our gain. Personally, he will stay out of my fridge he has been eating my food for the last couple of years despite freezing temperatures, the people of nottingham gave them a very warm welcome. This was meghans first royal walkabout and she handled it with aplomb. She seems really full of life and down to earth as well. My gosh, i think she is wonderful, i watched interviews and she is great. Meghan has committed to the uk. She will apply for british citizenship and has left the tv show that made her famous. Thank you so much. Congratulations royal fans have until may to get their flags and hats ready for the couples 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 make the public across the uk and the commonwealth, she has become a key member of team wins, 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 britains 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 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 cant stand up much longer, he replied his 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 worlds most unveiled a plaque it was a surprise but not really a surprise. This is a job from which you cannot retire. He hasjust proved that it might be possible to retire, which is quite good for the rest of us. Whenever he is in the world, people will continue to remember him and you cannot 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 edinburghs awards. And he had time to discuss with Indian Officials the problems of conserving. And he was an early advocate of Environmental Issues through his presidency of the World Wildlife fund. But itll be his unwavering support for the queen in this, the year of platinum wedding anniversary, which will be seen as his greatest achievement. They were married in 1947. In the gloom of post war britain, the wedding was described by Sir Winston Churchill as a flash of colour. She, the future queen, and he was a dashing naval officer. In the years since he has travelled the world with her and been her companion both in public and in private. Injune it was illness rather than retirement which prevented the duke from being at the queens side at the state opening of parliament. Prince charles took his place but going forward, this will become the norm and all of 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 as noticeably accelerated this year. 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 was 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. 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. The bands rousing sendoff could not have been more appropriate. For hes a jolly good fellow. The uks 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. Applause. 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. Applause. 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 harrys 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 queens private estate, had invested £10 million in funds based in bermuda and the cayman islands. Not illegal, but questions were asked as to whether this should be how the monarchs 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, presumably . 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 citys childrens hospital. Very interesting how everybody has united, havent they, here . It has been amazing. Really amazing. Its 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 elses 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 dianas death in a car accident in paris. 20 years on, harry spoke of the shock theyd 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 a very special 0fficial chart. Between now and 5 45pm we will bring you the big stories, new entries, high climbers and, of course, 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, its not like that at all people have asked me about that, we are keen on box sets, once we get time in the evening. Once the kiddies are in bed. You have to watch all those childrens programmes as well . Yes, lots of childrens programmes some of them are really good, but you have to pretend youre really interested because george gets very upset if youre 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. There will be a new sibling for Prince George and princess charlotte, and also joining their ranks, a californian born actress and soon to be wife of prince harry. Hi there. 2017 is finishing on a flourish in the guise of storm dylan. Zooming out to the atlantic, 12 hours ago storm dylan it didnt exist but since then this area of low pressure has formed and it it has deepened as it has been racing towards the british isles. This nasty hook of cloud is characteristic of a very deep area of low pressure and that will bring severe gales to the northern half of the uk and a high risk of disruption as we get into new years eve. The met office have already issued an amber wind warning for the strong winds. Gusts of 70 80 mph. Aside from that, many will start off with rain, mild in the south and a bit of mountain snow in scotland but it is the wind that take centre stage. Initially the strong wind was with us in Northern Ireland before swinging a cross into scotland. We could see peak gusts of around 80 mph, enough to blow down trees, cause transport disruption and any trees falling down could bring power lines down as well. Power cuts a possibility. The strong winds filtering and funnelling through the central belt of scotland. We could have some very rough weatherfor the morning. Elsewhere across england and wales, many areas starting on a bright note, with sunshine with a bit of rain left over in the south west, clearing really quite quickly. Those strong winds very slow to ease down across central belt of scotland, slowly easing from the second half of the afternoon. Blustery showers continuing to be blown across the uk with these gusty winds with us across all areas and in the showers they will be heavy, some thunder and quite a range of temperatures between 6 and 12 degrees. 0vernight, as we count down to the night celebrations, we will see further showers blown in on those strong winds. Not as cold as it might have been though. Temperature around four and seven degrees at midnight. On new years day, another band in the south, could cause problems with localised flooding and the weather being a problem. Another area of low pressure bringing gusty winds to scotland and Northern Ireland along with outbreaks of rain. Looking at the week ahead. Strong winds, further bursts of heavy rain with fairly big changes day by day with our temperatures. That is your latest weather. Welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. My name is duncan golestani. Our top stories violence in iran after a third day of Anti Government protests. Reports say at least two people have been shot. In the capital tehran, an official show of support for the government draws thousands of people. Nepal bans solo climbers from scaling its mountains. Critics say it will do little to reduce accidents. Violence has broken out across iran as Anti Government protesters defy warnings from officials, demonstrating for a third day