Cressida Bonas To Marry Prince Harry, Friends Tell The Press

He is the Royal family’s greatest asset: A hugely likeable young man who charms his way around the world, winning hearts wherever he goes.

This weekend, Prince Harry was in Sydney, his first visit to Australia, where he received a rapturous reception with hordes of flag-waving, cheering people lining the city’s harbour, straining to catch a glimpse of the world’s most eligible bachelor.

It would seem that his charm has also borne fruit closer to home.

Cressida Bonas, his girlfriend, has finally overcome her fears about marrying into the Royal family and friends of the couple say that a wedding is very much on the cards.

“Cressie is going to marry Harry,” one of her friends told The Daily Telegraph.

According to the Telegraph's source, "Harry never stops talking about marriage and children, and she has now got used to the idea. The wedding is likely to take place next year."

So it's a race to the altar between Pippa Middleton and her beau, Nico Jackson, and Pippa's royal brother-in-law and his future princess bride. Both have been dating for about a year, but Harry has been quite explicit about his desire to settle down. In a CBS interview in 2012, Harry admitted, "I mean look at me, I'm 27 years old," lamenting it was difficult to date as a prince: "[I'm] not so much searching for someone to fulfill the role, but obviously, you know, finding someone that would be willing to take it on."

And he seems to have found it with 24-year-old Cressida, a blonde dancer whom he's been seeing since last summer. Photos of them getting cozy on the skip slopes made it official in February 2013, and the pair attended a wedding together in June 2013 -- what's more couple-y than that?

Buzz about Cressie being The One has been growing louder recently, with Tatler putting her on its October 2013 cover with the headline, "Harry Loves Cressie." Now the Telegraph reports that 29-year-old prince has actually been pushing hard for a wedding, to the point where "Cressida has been in floods of tears." One friend reportedly told the Telegraph,