Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson got engaged in 1986 during their short getaway. The Duke of York was forced to pop the question twice after Fergie thought that he was joking.

In the book “Sarah: HRH The Duchess of York,” royal author Ingrid Seward revealed that Prince Andrew’s proposal took place at the Floors Castle during the couple’s vacation.

“Just before midnight Andrew went down on both knees and asked Sarah Ferguson to be his wife. Sarah was caught off-guard and, to cover her confusion, tried to make light of it. She told the prince: ‘If you wake up tomorrow morning, you can tell me it’s all a huge joke,’” she said.

The next morning, Prince Andrew asked Ferguson to marry him, and she finally said yes. The proposal was very private and simple and the couple decided not to tell anyone including Queen Elizabeth. The Duke and Duchess of York waited three weeks before the former asked for his mom’s permission to wed the latter.

As of late, it is still unclear whether or not the Queen figured out that the proposal happened before she gave her consent to her son. But according to Seward, Prince Andrew actually broke the law with what he did.

“By law, Andrew could tell no one until he had officially asked permission of the Queen and obtained her consent to marry – and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were not due back from their tour of Australia and New Zealand for another three weeks,” she said.

Members of the royal family are required to ask the Queen’s permission before they propose to their partner. But after the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 was put in place, only the members of the royal family who are occupying the first to sixth position in the order of succession need to ask for the monarch’s permission.

This means that Prince Charles, Prince Edward, Prince William, and Prince Harry all asked for the Queen’s permission before they proposed to their wives.