Royal Editor Emily Ferguson covered the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's joint engagement in Nottingham on Thursday, the first time she had seen the couple working together. She noted that while their activities closely resembled those of senior working royals, two key differences stood out.
Engagements mirror royal playbook
Harry and Meghan visited three charities in Nottingham, shaking hands, touring facilities, speaking with patrons and beneficiaries, and packing food parcels. Ferguson observed that the type and style of the work was almost a carbon copy of duties undertaken by actual senior working royals, despite the couple having previously criticised such engagements.
She reflected that after years of criticising the Royal Family, the couple are now emulating the bread-and-butter jobs they once poured scorn on. The walkabouts, playing pool, and donning aprons in the kitchen all looked and felt like a royal engagement, she said.
Lack of police presence
The first notable difference was the absence of police. When the King and Queen or the Prince and Princess of Wales visit a city, dozens of uniformed officers line the streets to monitor the situation, keep crowds back, and protect the royals. Harry and Meghan, who lost automatic taxpayer-funded security when they stepped back as senior working royals in 2020, were accompanied by their own private security detail, whose presence was barely noticeable.
As the couple walked along makeshift barriers, there were no police preventing the public from thrusting phones into their faces or urging people to step back. This became sharply apparent when they left their final engagement: after crowds gathered outside the youth charity, next door to a local primary school, several officers arrived to help with crowd control and ensure their vehicle could leave safely.
More relaxed media handling
The second difference was in how the engagements were covered. Typically, one or two Palace staffers accompany journalists on royal engagements, guiding where to stand, preventing cameras from being pushed in front of faces, and keeping reporters grouped together. They work with close protection teams to ensure no one steps too close.
With Harry and Meghan, the approach was far more relaxed. Some journalists got right up close and personal, could have reached out and touched them, and were effectively left to move as they pleased. Ferguson concluded that these differences stem from the fact that the couple are not part of the Firm: senior working royals are supported by police and a large communications team, while Harry and Meghan are still trying to secure the former and prefer to keep their circle tight.
