[BBC] – Prince Harry and his new girlfriend Meghan Markle have been invited to “honeymoon” in Antigua – by the country’s prime minister. The offer was made during a speech by Gaston Browne, leader of Antigua and Barbuda, before hundreds of guests.

The reception at Barnacle Point, staged in Prince Harry’s honour, was part of an official 15-day trip to the West Indies on behalf of the Queen. The prince confirmed his relationship with Ms Markle earlier this month.

Ms Markle is a US actress, most famous for her role in the TV drama Suits. At the event on Monday night, Mr Browne was keen to stress the honeymoon credentials of his country.

He said: “I am told that there may be a princess and I just want to say that should you make the decision to honeymoon – then Antigua and Barbuda want to welcome you.

“We have been voted consistently as the best honeymoon destination in the Caribbean – and one of the best in the world – so there will be nowhere in the world as special to spend your honeymoon, when that day arrives.”

Off limits

Earlier this month, Prince Harry’s communications secretary Jason Knauf issued a statement complaining about intrusion into Ms Markle’s private life and the “wave of abuse and harassment” she had been subjected to by the media.

Organisers of an Antiguan charity event he attended were briefed that his romance with Ms Markle was off limits for conversation. However, Mr Browne went on to say “whatever is done here, stays here. So do not worry”, before introducing Prince Harry to a group of beauty queens.

The reigning Miss Antigua and Barbuda, Leanda Ann Norville, later said that “everyone at this party” wanted to be his princess, adding, “his girlfriend seems a nice lady, but I would be a good girlfriend for him”.

Speaking to the press, Mr Browne said he thought the pair made a “very good looking couple”, and hoped they would come to his country “for some quiet time very soon”. On Tuesday, Prince Harry will visit Antigua’s sister island of Barbuda where he holidayed with his mother Diana, Princess of Wales just a few months before her death in 1997. There he will visit a bird colony and a primary school.