Prince Harry asked by bystander what it's like to be with Meghan Markle 'as a ginger'

Basking in their loved-up glow, Prince Harry and fiancee Meghan Markle took to the streets of Nottingham on Friday for their first joint engagement.

But it was a cheeky bystander who raised the most unexpected smile from the flame-haired royal, asking: "How does it feel being a ginger with Meghan?"

The prince burst into a wide smile before replying: "It's great isn't it? Unbelievable."

A study in 2012, published in the journal Psychological Studies, used a series of realistic wigs to gauge the attractiveness of different hair colours by separating it from the other physical features of attractiveness.

Women were approached most often when wearing a blonde wig - while men were rejected the most often when wearing a ginger wig.

But things are looking up for ginger guys in 2017; Prince Harry, arguably the most well-known ginger dude in Britain, is set to walk down the aisle with one of the world's most stunning actresses. (Although being a famous, charming and good-looking playboy prince can't have done him any harm.)

And, perhaps even more importantly, Unicode - the body which oversees the launch of new emojis - looks set to cave to public demand for a red-headed emoji.

The non-profit organisation says it's under consideration for launch next year - along with a lobster, kangaroo, and a tooth.

While those with black, brown, blonde and grey hair have been able to express themselves via smartphone cartoons for years, ginger people have been unforgivably excluded - until now, it seems.

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According to Jacky Colliss Harvey, author of RED: A History of the Redhead, the unfair negative stereotypes which are associated with ginger men date back at least as far as the days of Judas - who betrayed Jesus - and was portrayed as having a shock of red hair.

She said that while red hair has been seen as a key attribute of female beauty for centuries, in men it has been viewed as "effeminate" in some cases, and sinister in others.

Pointing out that in Serbia and Romania having red hair as a man meant you'd turn into a vampire when you died, she added: "It’s really unfortunate that male redheads have always run really bad notes, and some are very ingrained.”