Meghan Markle walks arm-in-arm with Prince Harry at royal Christmas service

Newly engaged couple Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Kate and other royals at the Christmas service on Monday.

Queen Elizabeth II and senior members of the British royal family — along with newcomer Meghan Markle, an American actress engaged to Prince Harry — attended a Christmas church service on Monday as a crowd of local residents gathered.

Markle smiled and gave a brief wave in her first public appearance with the queen. She and Harry stopped to talk with several locals on their way back to the queen’s residence.

“She was very, very lovely,” said Judith Wallis, a woman who chatted briefly with the couple. The crowd was larger than in previous years, perhaps because of curiosity about Markle.

Check out their pictures from the royal Christmas service:

The queen was joined by her husband, Prince Philip, and close family members including grandson Prince William and his wife, Kate, who is expected to give birth to the couple’s third child in the spring.

Elizabeth, 91, and Philip, 96, missed last year’s church service because they had the flu, but they seemed in good health during Monday’s brief appearance. Philip walked back to the queen’s house with other royals, but Elizabeth opted to be driven.