King Charles walked Meghan Markle down the aisle. Now, she's skipping his coronation. Here's a timeline of their relationship.

A few months after Harry and Meghan started dating, he introduced her to his father. He wrote in "Spare" that he advised Meghan not to wear a lot of makeup for the meeting because his father "didn't approve of women who wore a lot," and also said she should wear her hair down "the way Pa likes it" when other women wore their hair that way.

Harry also wrote that they "rehearsed" the meeting "several times" to help Meghan practice curtsying and using the correct royal titles.

"He had a lot of questions about Meg's career, and he looked impressed by the way she answered," Harry wrote of Charles' first impression of Meghan. "Her confidence, her intelligence, I thought, caught him unawares."

Harry proposed to Meghan after she cooked dinner at Nottingham Cottage — their home at the time — on Kensington Palace grounds.

"We're thrilled, thank you very much. For both of them," Charles told NBC News when asked about their engagement. "I hope they'll be very happy indeed, is all I can say. It's marvelous."

The royal family spends every Christmas at Sandringham House, the family's estate in Norfolk. They typically swap joke gifts, enjoy a black-tie Christmas dinner, and attend church services at St. Mary Magdalene Church.

"I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham," Meghan said in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan." "Calling my mom, and she's like, 'How's it going?' And I said, 'Oh my gosh, it's amazing.' It's just like a big family like I always wanted. And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun."

Fiancées aren't usually invited to the royal family's holiday festivities. In 2010, Kate Middleton spent Christmas apart from Prince William while they were engaged.

Harry reportedly asked the Queen to make an exception for Meghan, who became the first royal fiancée to spend Christmas with the royal family.

After Meghan's father bowed out of attending the wedding in the wake of a health scare and paparazzi scandal, Charles stepped in to walk his future daughter-in-law down the aisle.

"Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day," Kensington Palace said in a statement released the day before the wedding. "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to The Royal Family in this way."

Harry spoke about making the request in the BBC One documentary "Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70," which was released in November 2018.

"I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming, and he immediately said, 'Yes, of course, I'll do whatever Meghan needs and I'm here to support you,'" he said.

He continued: "For him, that's a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know, he's our father, so of course he's going to be there for us."

At her first royal engagement as a newlywed — a garden party for Charles' 70th birthday at Buckingham Palace — Meghan was seen chatting and laughing with Charles and Camilla.

Charles conversed with Harry and Meghan on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the royal British military parade.

Dressed to the nines per the Royal Ascot dress code, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex greeted Charles at Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, England.

In addition to Meghan and Harry, the photo featured Charles and Camilla, as well as Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children.

"I photographed a lot of the prince behind the scenes in his 70th birthday year, and it culminated in this family portrait in the gardens of Clarence House, which was really an honor to take," royal photographer Chris Jackson told Insider in January 2022 of capturing the image. "I love this particular moment where the family are clearly enjoying themselves and it's just a lovely, relaxed moment."

By then, reports had already started emerging about tensions between Meghan and royal family members and staff.

The Daily Telegraph, citing two sources, said that Meghan had left Kate in tears the week of the royal wedding in a dispute over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dress. Meghan later said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 that it was Kate who had made her cry, not the other way around, and that she had apologized.

In the same article, The Telegraph reported that Markle has upset staff by calling them at 5 a.m. and subjecting them to "bombardments" of emails.

Harry and Meghan would later label claims that Meghan bullied palace staff a "calculated smear campaign."

Representatives for Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born a few months later on May 6, 2017.

Prior to the engagement, Harry and Meghan had publicly shared their decision to step back as senior working royals. They returned to the UK briefly in March 2020 to pack up their residence at Frogmore Cottage and make their last royal appearances, they said in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan."

Toward the end of their last week in the UK, which Harry called a "whirlwind," the couple joined the royal family at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, Insider's Maria Noyen reported. Meghan said it was the first time they'd seen anyone in the family since making the decision to move to North America.

Harry said that he and Meghan were "nervous" to see the royal family, and compared the highly public event to "living through a soap opera."

"So much of how they operate is about what it looks like, rather than what it feels like," he said in the docuseries. "And it looked cold. But it also felt cold."

Representatives for Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The interview — their first since stepping back as senior royals and leaving the UK — featured intimate details such as Meghan sharing that she had suicidal thoughts during royal life, the couple saying that there were "concerns and conversations" among royal family members about how dark Archie's skin would be, and Harry saying that Charles stopped taking his calls and cut him off financially.

Buckingham Palace responded to the interview with a statement saying that the royal family was "saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."

"The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning," it continued. "While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much loved family members."

"Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren," Harry wrote in a statement on Archewell's website. "I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III."

At the funeral, Meghan wore pearl-and-diamond drop earrings that were a gift from the Queen's personal collection.

Harry and Meghan were photographed chatting with some royal family members, including the Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall, her brother Peter Phillips, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, but photos didn't show the couple interacting with Charles or Camilla.

In the docuseries, Meghan shared how she asked Charles to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

"Harry's dad is very charming and I said to him, "'I've lost my dad in this.' So him as my father-in-law is very important to me," Meghan said in "Harry & Meghan." "So I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said 'yes.'"

Harry also said that Charles helped them find musicians and a gospel choir for the ceremony.

The docuseries also featured less heartwarming anecdotes, such as Harry's statement that he, Meghan, and Princess Diana were victims of "institutional gaslighting" from the palace.

The docuseries started with the written statement: "Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series."

In a statement sent to Insider, Buckingham Palace said it was "pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May."

"The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet," it added.

King Charles' coronation falls on the same day as Archie's 4th birthday, Insider's Chris Panella and Anneta Konstantinides reported. According to royal author Omid Scobie, that "played a factor in the couple's decision" for Meghan to stay behind with him and 1-year-old Lilibet.