Once upon a time, in 1936, a British monarch named Edward VIII was forbidden to marry his divorced American girlfriend and also be king, so he renounced the throne, moved with her to France and lived not-so-happily ever after.

Nearly 20 years later, forced to make a similarly unpleasant choice, Edward’s niece Margaret opted to keep her title but jettison her (also divorced) boyfriend. She ended up herself divorced from the man she married in the boyfriend’s place.

But that was another century, another world and many divorces ago.

As we ponder the news that Prince Harry, the raffish younger son of the future king of England, has become engaged to Meghan Markle — an American actress who, like nearly everyone in this story so far (except Harry) is divorced — it is worth noting how dramatically Britain and the royal family have changed in the intervening years.

It is also worth noting that the engagement, announced in front of Kensington Palace with traditional fanfare, the unveiling of a massive diamond engagement ring and a burst of details about who-said-what-to-whom-when and how they knew that this was it, is at once a huge deal, and not much of one at all.