Most people’s honeymoons involve sun, sea, sex and sand (just like the Havana Sands song suggests), but Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are not most people.

In fact, Kensington Palace has confirmed that the couple have made the decision to postpone their honeymoon so that they can attend their first official engagement as husband and wife.

On 22 May – just three days after the royal wedding is broadcast on televisions all around the world – Meghan and Harry will step out for Prince Charles’ 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.

The gathering will celebrate the second-in-line to the throne’s patronage and military affiliations, a spokesperson from the palace shared.

They added that invites have been issued to representatives from 400 charities, in a bid to honour the work they do that’s so “close to [Charles’] heart”.

And, of course, emergency personnel who responded to last year’s Manchester Arena bombing will also be recognised at the event – just months after Queen Elizabeth II praised their “extraordinary bravery” in the face of the “appalling attack”.

Last May, the Queen visited victims of the bombing at Manchester Arena, in which 22 people died. A suicide bomber struck as they left the venue following a performance by US singer Ariana Grande.

“I describe that hospital visit as a ‘privilege’ because the patients I met were an example to us all,” she said in her Christmas address, which was broadcast on 25 December 2017.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who died and those who lost so much, and we are indebted to members of the emergency services who risked their own lives this past year saving others.”

Owing to the importance of the event, and the bravery of the people having their hard work recognised, Meghan and Harry have decided to postpone their honeymoon and make it their first official engagement as a married couple.

The details of their trip remain closely under wraps, although it has been widely reported that the couple are visiting Namibia, where they will stay at Hoanib Valley Camp in Kaokoland in the north-west of the country.

The destination is described as being “surrounded by mountains, sand dunes, and huge expanses of desert.”

It almost goes without saying that Africa is incredibly important to the Suits star and her husband-to-be.

Meghan famously joined Harry on her first-ever safari in neighbouring Botswana during the early stages of their relationship – and the camping trip gave the couple the time they needed to get to know one another, away from the glare of the world’s press.

“We camped out with each other under the stars, sharing a tent and all that stuff,” revealed Harry, who fell in love with the African continent soon after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, when his father took him and William on safari to get away from everything.

“This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world,” he added. “I wish I could spend more time here, [because] you leave this place with such a depth of appreciation for life.”

And, during his interview with the BBC’s Mishal Husain, the prince said that he had even sourced the central diamond in Meghan’s engagement ring from Botswana.

“The ring is yellow gold because that’s her favourite, and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana,” Harry said, adding that “the little diamonds either side are from my mother’s jewellery collection to make sure that she’s with us on this, on this crazy journey together.”

Image: Getty