Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Visit Nottingham Charities In First Joint UK Engagement

Nottingham charity day

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made their first joint engagement since moving back to the United Kingdom in August when they visited three charities in Nottingham, England on Thursday.

Prince Harry and Meghan arrived at the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in Nottingham, where they stopped to greet well-wishers and pose for selfies, with Meghan telling one woman in the crowd, “It’s great to be back.”

The couple joined a group of girls for a confidence-building and bracelet-making workshop at CRS, and Meghan said, “I feel most like myself when I’m with my family and also when I’m cooking. I love doing that. I love to cook.”

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Prince Harry and Meghan then went to Himmah Hub, a food poverty community action group, where they participated in cooking classes and packed food parcels for donations.

The couple’s third stop in Nottingham was at Epic Partners, which supports children and young people in Nottingham, as their day of visits was described as their first joint public appearance since returning to Britain as private citizens with their two children.

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Private citizens, public welcome

The Royal Household letter released in September reiterated that Harry and Meghan have remained "private citizens" and are not working royals, a status that was referenced as the backdrop to their Nottingham appearance.

Prince Harry and Meghan were greeted by crowds as they arrived at CRS, with PA Media reporting that crowds gave the couple balloons and flowers, and with the couple stopping to greet onlookers and pose for selfies.

Meghan told one woman in the crowd, “It’s great to be back,” and another participant said she liked doing gymnastics, to which Meghan replied, “Our daughter is doing that too right now. She loves it.”

The engagements in Nottingham were described as not an official royal engagement, and the letter said all charitable work carried out by Harry and Meghan is a “personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity.”

The couple’s return was also framed around their status and security, with NBC News royal contributor Emily Nash saying the visit would renew questions about their security and that “this is them dipping their toe back in the water.”

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Security and ongoing questions

Prince Harry continued to push for the UK Home Office to reinstate his family’s taxpayer-funded security, which was downgraded when the family left for North America in 2020, as the Nottingham visit unfolded. NBC News reported that a letter sent on behalf of King Charles III to senior government and military officials confirmed Harry and Meghan remain nonworking members of the royal family, and a spokesperson for the couple told NBC News they were “surprised” by the letter. The couple’s return also came with questions about their children’s schooling, as NBC News said they had to move their children from their school after just two days and that “I’m told they’re settling in well now and Archie and Lili are very happy at their new school.”

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The Washington Post described that Harry and Meghan moved their children to a new school after two days, citing security concerns, and it also said their return sparked questions about whether they will receive publicly funded protection. The Nottingham appearances, framed as their first joint public appearance since returning to Britain, left the sources emphasizing that the couple were treated as private citizens while they continued charity visits in the city where they made their first official public outing together in 2017.

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