Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stayed close during their first joint appearance after moving back to England.
Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, stepped out on Thursday, October 15, at Nottingham’s Community Recording Studio (CRS), a local community charity that offers various youth development programs. The couple were spotted holding hands while greeting well-wishers, also accepting multiple large floral arrangements.
While Harry opted for a gray blazer over a white button-down with jeans, Meghan made a style statement in a burgundy turtleneck, midi skirt and long peacoat. For glam, she wore her dark tresses in a slicked-back ponytail.
During the visit, Harry and Meghan met with community members and CRS staffers to see the nonprofit’s programs firsthand.
“Harry’s been a few times — we’re used to him coming and always having a big impact when he comes,” CRS co-CEO Trevor Rose told People. “For him to want to bring Meg as well and to hear that she wanted to find out more about what we are and what we do is incredible. They don’t just say they’ll visit every year — they ring up every couple of months, they ask what we’re doing and monitor progress and give us suggestions.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Nottingham marks their first official joint engagement after relocating to the U.K. folloing six years stateside in California. (Harry and Meghan initially left London in 2020 after stepping down from their duties as senior working royals.)
“It’s great to be back,” Meghan told a waiting royal watcher on Thursday, per People.
Us confirmed in August that Harry and Meghan were moving back to England in time for their children — Prince Archie, 7, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 5 — to attend a local British school for the fall semester. The couple, for their part, are expected to continue their personal business ventures from their new U.K. home and will not take on any official royal duties.
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” Harry’s father, King Charles III, wrote in a letter sent to the Sussexes’ team last month. “In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
The monarch continued at the time, “It is well known that, in January 2020, the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of The Sovereign, and are no longer working Members of The Royal Family. This position, distinct from the State and Royal duties undertaken by the working Royal Family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish, will continue to be fully respected.”
