Happy anniversary to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry!
Shortly after returning home to California after their three-day visit to Nigeria, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex marked six years of marriage on May 19.
Meghan, 42, and Harry, 39, had their royal wedding on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. The fairytale ceremony was attended by the couple’s family and friends including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, the future King Charles, the future Queen Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, attended the event and exited the church arm-in-arm with her daughter’s new father-in-law, who walked Meghan down the aisle during the ceremony.
Following the church service, Meghan and Prince Harry took a horse-drawn carriage ride around Windsor to greet the crowds gathered along the streets. They then had an afternoon reception in St. George’s Hall of the castle before an outfit change — Meghan in a sleek Stella McCartney gown for the occasion and Harry in a tuxedo — for the evening reception.
In Harry and Meghan, released on Netflix in December 2022, the pair shared never-before-seen photos of the wedding festivities, including their first dance as husband and wife to “Land of 1,000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett.
“I just really wanted the music to be fun. Even our first dance,” Meghan said in the series.
A source told PEOPLE at the time, “It was a huge dance party, everyone was letting loose and had a blast. Just a fun night and not stuffy at all.”
The book Finding Freedom shared details on how Meghan and Prince Harry celebrated one year of marriage in 2019 in a low-key way. Doria had traveled to the U.K. to meet her grandchild, Prince Archie, born just weeks earlier on May 6, and they shared a meal together.
“On the anniversary of their first year of marriage, Harry and Meghan enjoyed a traditional Sunday lunch with Doria, her last meal before traveling back to L.A.,” wrote authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
Prince Harry also gifted Meghan an eternity ring, which she debuted at Trooping the Colour the following month.
“Harry also surprised his wife of one year with a ring that he had created with the jeweler to the stars Lorraine Schwartz, a favorite of Meghan’s,” the authors said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are parents to 5-year-old son Prince Archie and 2-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet, traditionally mark their wedding anniversary by exchanging gifts based on tradition.
“They love to do their own take on traditional wedding gifts,” a source previously told PEOPLE. “The first anniversary was paper, and Meghan wrote out the wedding speech and had it framed for him.”
On their second anniversary in 2020, shortly after they relocated to California after stepping back as working members of the royal family, “they both gave each other gifts based on ‘cotton.’ Undoubtedly, it was a very creative and romantic gesture as all their gifts are to one another.”
Leather is a traditional third-anniversary gift, followed by fruits and flowers for four years and wood for year five.
According to The Knot, gifts of iron are traditionally exchanged on the sixth anniversary.
Meghan and Prince Harry traveled to Nigeria this month to champion their Archewell Foundation’s mental health initiatives for young people and to promote Harry’s Invictus Games, which Nigeria joined for the first time last year.
“I’m so happy with the growth of Invictus and to include Nigeria,” the Duke of Sussex tells PEOPLE. “You know what Africa means to me over the years. It is a very, very special place, and to be able to include Nigeria now [in Invictus], I’m very happy.”
For Meghan, the trip also brought her closer to her roots. In 2022, she discovered through a genealogy test that she is 43% Nigerian.
“It was incredibly memorable and special,” Meghan says of their time in Nigeria. “That alone is the best souvenir to take with us — all the memories we’ve made.”
The parents of two are anticipating more travel opportunities to further their initiatives.
“There’s only so much one can do from home and over Zoom, so we look forward to traveling more because the work matters. Whether it’s the Archewell Foundation, Invictus or any of our other causes, there will always be reasons to meet the people at the heart of our work,” Prince Harry says.
