The Duke and Duchess of Sussex conducted their first public engagement since returning to the UK on Thursday, appearing in Nottingham at the East Midlands city's Community Recording Studio. The couple were in the city where they made their first public appearance together after their wedding in 2018.
School children assembled to greet them, but reports suggest there were fewer than 200 people in the crowd. The engagement came as King Charles and Queen Camilla opened the Senedd, an event that was overshadowed by the Sussexes' appearance.
Strategy to 'pretend' to be working royals
Writing in the Daily Express, reporter Adam Toms criticised the couple, saying they are not working royals but appear to be adopting a strategy of pretending to be working members of the Firm. He questioned whether the timing was deliberate, saying he "would not put it past them."
Toms described the monarch as "making sure one of the largest cogs of the UK's democracy is turning — doing his duty — while his son and his wife cosplay as important people."
Source claims Meghan will 'fight back'
The visit comes after a source purported to be close to Meghan said she "loves taking on a challenge" and will "fight back" even if hostility to her in Britain stays strong. The source told Closer: "Meghan is very competitive, she loves taking on a challenge, and she's coming back to the UK with the mindset that she can turn things around and win people over."
The source added: "She's heard all the predictions that she'll never be welcomed in England again, but she's refusing to just roll over and accept that as the truth. There was a time when all the hostility she's facing across the pond would have taken her down, but she's stronger than she was six years ago, and she's insisting that she's ready to stand up and fight back."
Columnist says public sentiment misunderstood
Toms argued that framing Brits' hostility as a "challenge to overcome" is a severe misunderstanding of the country's public sentiment. He wrote that once the public decides it does not like someone, it is very hard to change minds, especially if the behaviour that caused the turn against them continues.
He said Meghan shows no sign of humility or apologising for having a "tantrum" and trying to "torpedo the Crown" from California. He added that trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result is "called insanity," and that admitting she did wrong and needs to go about things differently would be a start.
