On Monday morning, Britain’s Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle made their first appearance since their engagement was announced. Appearing for reporters and photographers in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, Markle’s engagement ring was displayed, featuring a large diamond from Botswana as well as two smaller diamonds from Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.

This royal engagement holds quite a bit of significance. As an American and a divorcee, Markle’s joining of the royal family marks a historic moment for the Kingdom. While she is not the first American to marry a British royal, she is the first whose relationship has been officially accepted. In 1936, King Edward VIII famously abdicated the throne to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. The acceptance of Markle’s engagement shows how social conventions have become more progressive and tolerant over time. And since Prince Harry’s father Prince Charles divorced Diana and then remarried twice-divorced Camilla Parker-Bowles, Markle’s divorcee status is far from egregious.

However, Markle will be the first Catholic allowed to marry into the royal family. Until 2015, British rules barred members of the line of royal succession from marrying Catholics, as Queen Elizabeth II serves as the head of the Anglican Church. But the revised law now allows Markle, who attended a Catholic high school, to marry Prince Harry.

What may be most remarkable and significant about this engagement, though, is that Markle is a woman of color. Markle has spoken out about her mixed race, writing in a 2015 Elle magazine publication about racism and her struggle to identify herself. Prince Harry has come forward recently to defend Markle after Daily Mail stories made racist comments about Markle. He condemned the pieces’ “racial undertones” and the ongoing “abuse and harassment” Markle and her family experienced. As Harry is fifth in line to the throne, Queen Elizabeth would have had to give permission to the marriage. And while most people believe that Markle being mixed race would not have been at all significant for the Queen, the British right-wing tabloids that attacked Markle for her mixed race showed that it still might be significant to some.

Lastly, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement underscores an important point. People like Prince Harry–who are successful, attractive, wealthy–want partners who are on par with their status. In other words, like attracts like. Markle was a successful actress who worked hard to achieve her position as a global figure way before she met her prince. She is intelligent, generous and extremely deserving of the status associated with the royal family and we at Lipstick & Politics congratulate the union of two superb human beings!