Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement photos released

Official photographs to mark the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been released by Kensington Palace.

A black and white portrait of the couple embracing face to face has been published alongside a colour picture of them sitting together holding hands.

The two images were taken by fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski earlier this week at Frogmore House, Windsor.

The couple are to wed at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next May.

The black and white image of the smiling couple was shot in the grounds of the house and shows Ms Markle in a white sweater holding the prince's face, with her engagement ring prominent.

The other photograph is more formal and shows the couple hand in hand on the steps of Frogmore. Prince Harry is dressed in a blue suit while Ms Markle is wearing a black and gold embroidered dress by British luxury fashion house Ralph and Russo.

Kensington Palace later released a third photo "as a way to say thank you" for all the "warm and generous" messages the couple had received.

Prince Harry and American actress Ms Markle confirmed their engagement in November and last week announced the service would take place on 19 May.

Ms Markle will be baptised into the Church of England and confirmed before the wedding.

New York-based Mr Lubomirski is a former assistant to Mario Testino, who created some of the most famous images of Prince Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

He said: "It was an incredible honour to be asked to document this wonderful event, but also a great privilege to be invited to share and be a witness to this young couple's love for one another.

"I cannot help but smile when I look at the photos that we took of them, such was their happiness together."

Mr Lubomirski's pictures follow the official royal engagement photograph tradition of being made up of both a formal and casual image.

The relaxed appearance of Prince Harry and Ms Markle contrasts with the official engagement photos of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and his father Prince Charles, taken outside Buckingham Palace in February 1981.

Testino began to introduce the more expressive portrait style when he took the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's engagement pictures at St James's Palace in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have begun their Christmas break by taking a train from King's Cross in London to King's Lynn in Norfolk.

They will be spending the Christmas period at Sandringham, the Queen's private estate in Norfolk, and will later be joined by other members of the Royal Family - including Prince Harry and Ms Markle.