Harry and Meghan make first joint appearance since returning to the UK
By Lianne Kolirin, CNN
London (CNN) — The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made their first joint public appearance in Britain since moving back to the country.
Prince Harry and Meghan were greeted by well-wishers as they arrived at the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in Nottingham on Thursday morning.
Crowds gave the couple balloons and flowers, Britain’s PA Media news agency reported, with Harry and Meghan stopping to greet onlookers and pose for selfies. Meghan told one woman in the crowd: “It’s great to be back.”
The CRS, which Harry has visited before, is a charity that teaches film, video and music skills to young people. Inside the studio, Meghan joined a group of girls for a confidence-building and bracelet-making workshop.
When asked what makes them feel most like themselves, one participant said she liked doing gymnastics, to which Meghan replied: “Our daughter is doing that too right now. She loves it,” according to PA Media.
The duchess, whose Netflix lifestyle “With Love, Meghan” show centered around hosting and cooking, added: “I feel most like myself when I’m with my family and also when I’m cooking. I love doing that. I love to cook.”
The couple’s second stop while in Nottingham on Thursday was at Himmah Hub, a food poverty community action group. While there, they participated in cooking classes and packed food parcels for donations.
A crowd of about 50 people gathered at the gates to try and catch a glimpse of the Sussexes, according to PA Media.
In a surprise announcement this summer, the couple revealed that they would be leaving their home in California to resettle in the UK, together with their two children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The family landed in August, ahead of the start of the school year last month. They returned as private citizens and are not resuming any official duties on behalf of King Charles III.
The engagements in Nottingham come more than six years after the couple departed the United Kingdom for the United States and the years since have seen a public falling out with some members of the royal family.
Harry and Meghan had cited tabloid intrusion, racism in British institutions, online abuse and complex family dynamics as among the reasons behind their 2020 departure.
Harry and Meghan’s Nottingham visit is not an official royal engagement.
Last month, Harry’s father, King Charles, issued a letter in which he clarified that the couple should be treated as “private citizens.” The missive is said to have caught the Sussexes off guard.
According to the letter, sent by the UK’s Lord Chamberlain – the most senior officer of the British royal household – all charitable work carried out by Harry and Meghan is a “personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity.”
The letter also made clear that any operational issues involving them should be directed to the relevant police authorities. Harry has continued to push for the UK Home Office to reinstate his family’s taxpayer-funded security, which was downgraded when the family left for North America in 2020.
The last time the Sussexes appeared together in public in Britain was four years ago, at the funeral of Harry’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022.
While living in the US, Harry made several trips back to the UK, including for the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 and the coronation of his father King Charles III the following year.
CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Max Foster contributed reporting.
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