The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have completed their first joint engagement since moving back to the UK, after spending Thursday attending back-to-back engagements in Nottingham. The couple spent their away day with three charities close to their hearts, just seven weeks on from relocating back to Britain.
A day with three charities
The couple started their day at the Community Recording Studio (CRS), a youth and community charity based in St Ann’s. Originally established to give young people access to music and recording facilities, it now offers a broader range of creative activities, sport, mentoring and youth development.
Before heading inside, Harry and Meghan spent 25 minutes meeting excited fans who were waiting to catch a glimpse of the couple, as they took selfies with fans and Meghan accepted numerous bouquets of flowers. While they were outside, Meghan declared: “Oh it’s great to be back.”
At the recording studio, the couple were treated to theatrical and musical performances, while the Duchess also joined a jewellery making class with a group of young girls to talk about self confidence.
Community connections
Then, Harry and Meghan made their way to Himmah Hub, a food poverty community action group. Himmah is a Nottingham charity tackling poverty, food insecurity, racism and social exclusion through community meals, food parcels and wider practical support.
Meghan reconnected with the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen, with whom she collaborated with for the 2018 project Together: Our Community Cookbook, before Harry and Meghan helped prepare food packages. The Duchess embraced each of the women in the kitchen before enveloping them in a group hug as she said: “It’s been too long!”
The couple finished their day with Epic Partners, a charity which supports children, young people and families in St Ann’s and Sneinton, Nottingham, through youth work, sport, mentoring and education. The visit highlighted a relationship between the organisation and the Duke spanning more than a decade, built around a shared commitment to early intervention, community-led support and creating lasting opportunities for young people.
Not an official royal visit
While their trip is not an official royal visit, given that the Sussexes took a step back from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to America, they spent their day engaging with various charities and people in the community.
Since moving back to Britain in late August, Harry has attended numerous engagements in the UK for various causes, namely the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards and the United for Freedom gala to raise money for organisations supporting Ukraine. For Meghan however, the trip to Nottingham marked the first time in four years that the Duchess has appeared publicly at events in the UK – the last time being the late Queen’s funeral in 2022.
Earlier this year, before they moved back to Britain, the Duke and Duchess undertook two international trips: one to Jordan in February, and another to Australia in April. In Jordan, the couple spent two days visiting several charities and mingled with locals, and even joined a roundtable discussion hosted by the WHO with individuals from major leading bodies like the United Nations.
The couple were invited to the region by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu to learn more over a two-day trip about the tireless humanitarian effort to support the health and wellbeing of displaced Syrians and Palestinians who have sought sanctuary in Jordan over many decades.
In Australia, the couple undertook events both together and separately, visiting a children’s hospital in Melbourne and meeting with locals in Sydney in the wake of the deadly attack at Bondi Beach together. Individually, Harry travelled to the War Memorial in Canberra, while Meghan spoke at a wellness retreat and appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.
Following their quasi-royal tour of Jordan, body language expert Judi James explained how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem more at ease with a non-official tour as opposed to the work of a senior royal. Judi told the Mirror at the time: “So far this looks like an important expression of pared-back-to-basics 'royalty' from the couple in the face of the stubborn storm clouds hovering in the UK. It seems to suggest a disconnect from a couple happier to be seen playing kick-about in crumpled casuals right now than anything more formal or high-status.”
