This year marks their first Valentine's Day as a married couple, but Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will be spending it apart. Queen Elizabeth's grandson has a work trip scheduled for February 14, Kensington Palace has confirmed - and it's about the most opposite of romantic you can get! Harry, who was appointed Captain General Royal Marines in December 2017, will travel to Norway, where he will visit Exercise Clockwork - a program of extreme cold weather training.
Exercise Clockwork - which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year - is the annual winter exercise which takes place 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle in North Norway, at the Bardufoss base. It has trained over 16,000 Royal Marines and Royal Navy sailors and airmen since 1969. Harry will fly to the Air Station in Bardufoss next month to meet military personnel living and training across six months of the year on the base.
Related: Victoria Beckham reacts to Meghan Markle wearing one of her dresses
The 34-year-old royal will learn about the history and context of Clockwork on his trip and view a variety of outdoor Ground Training Stances. These show the equipment and training that is used - including field tents, snow vehicles and a Quincey Shelter - which is basically a shelter which is made of snow.
So Meghan will have to spend Valentine's without her Prince. But she'll no doubt still plan something nice for herself. Ahead of Valentine's Day 2015, the former actress wrote on her website The Tig about the importance of self-love, in a post titled, "Hook, line and sinker, I am such a sucker for Valentine's Day." She gave advice about how to mark the holiday as a singleton, writing: "I think you need to be your own Valentine." She added: "I think you need to cook that beautiful dinner even when it's just you, wear your favorite outfit, buy yourself some flowers, and celebrate the self-love that often gets muddled when we focus on what we don't have."
