Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has returned to Instagram for the first time since the news that she and Prince Harry are moving back to the UK, sharing a joke about chickens.
The Sussexes and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are to settle in the UK for an “extended period” by the end of the month, with the children enrolled in British schools ready to start in September. Neither Meghan nor Harry have spoken publicly about their surprise plans, which emerged a week ago, six years after they dramatically quit their royal roles.
Chicken Tenders Joke and As Ever Launch
Meghan posted an Instagram story in which she chuckled at what appeared to be a tea towel with the message: “People who take care of chickens are literally chicken tenders”. This follows news that the Sussexes’ brood of chickens are remaining at their home in California to be cared for there, while their pet dogs Mia and Pula will travel to the UK and live with them in their new home.
Meghan has also unveiled the latest addition to her As Ever range – Spiced Apple Butter. On Monday, her As Ever Instagram page posted a video of Meghan picking apples from an orchard and collecting them in a basket. The jar of “orchard apples and fragrant spices” is being launched today, “just in time for fall”, with the brand saying the product captures the season’s “promise of crisp mornings and changing leaves just around the corner”.
Reports on Length of Stay and Acting Rumours
Some reports have suggested the Sussexes’ stay in the UK could last from just the autumn to six months, or even a year or so, with the family retaining their houses in Montecito and Portugal. Rumours have also swirled around Meghan’s plans to return to acting, with speculation that she is in talks to star in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix gangster series The Gentlemen. The Sussexes, who are remaining as non-working royals, stepped away from the monarchy six years ago for a new life in the US, from where they criticised the royal family and the institution.
Harry's Ukraine Exhibition Involvement
It has emerged that Harry has joined actors Sir Stephen Fry, Sharon Stone and Alyssa Milano in guest-curating a Ukraine photography exhibition in Los Angeles. The collection of images is set to go on show in California on September 11, by which time Harry is expected to have set up home in the UK. Harry will miss the unveiling of Postcode Ukraine: Diary of a Volunteer, which has been put together to raise funds for frontline grassroots aid as Russia’s full-scale invasion nears its fifth year.
The duke selected a moving black-and-white picture by photographer Mark Neville of a schoolboy in a blazer and shorts standing in the rubble of a destroyed farm in the Kyiv region in October 2022 for the exhibition. Harry, who travelled to Kyiv in April and made a direct appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop this war”, personally chose the image for the display by British Kyiv-based artist Neville.
The exhibition, which focuses on Ukraine’s children, families and volunteers, opens at Westwood Contemporary Gallery in LA from September 11 to 30, and is the first major presentation of Neville’s Ukraine photography work. Each guest curator, including Harry, separately selected a photograph by Neville that resonated with them personally and also contributed a reflection on the importance of that image. Others who helped curate the display included Sir Stephen, who is a friend of the King, as well as activists Stone and Milano; Oleksandra Matviichuk, who heads the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Centre for Civil Liberties; and Ukrainian poet Kateryna Babkina.
