Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to make their first joint public appearance since returning to the UK, although the Duchess of Sussex is expected to keep future engagements of this kind relatively limited.
The couple will attend several charity initiatives in Nottingham, including a community food project created following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
However, a friend says Meghan does not regard herself as a working royal, describing her current role instead as that of a “full-time mum and entrepreneur.”
On Thursday, the Sussexes are undertaking three engagements in the East Midlands that are being viewed as quasi-royal appearances.
Nottingham holds particular significance for the couple, as it was the location of their first royal walkabout together in 2017.
A source described their return to the city nine years later as creating a “really nice synergy,” while acknowledging that the circumstances are now very different.
Meghan, who was seen having lunch with her former royal wedding hairstylist in London yesterday, is not expected to make regular appearances of this nature.
“Her public appearances will be relatively rare,” the Sussex source said. “She is reading a lot of scripts at the moment. If she has time left after all of that, she will do some charity work.”
The source added: “But she’s not a working royal. Her day isn’t organised around a programme pulled together by a private secretary. She’s a full-time mum and entrepreneur, and that alone takes up a lot of time and work.”
Meghan is also hoping to bring her lifestyle brand, As Ever, to the UK before the end of the year.
Meghan and Harry are pursuing different priorities, with Meghan now viewing herself primarily as a “full-time mum and entrepreneur”
The couple are visiting Nottingham, where they made their first joint royal walkabout in 2017 (pictured)
While Harry remains closely focused on his charitable commitments, particularly the Invictus Games, Meghan’s attention is centred more on her business ventures and a possible return to acting.
“They have different professional priorities,” one source told the Telegraph.
“Prince Harry’s is his philanthropic work and public service. Her focus is on her family and children, followed by her business, followed by rebooting her acting career.”
During their Nottingham visit on Thursday, the Sussexes will call at three charitable organisations, including the Community Recording Studio, where Meghan is expected to join an acting workshop.
They are also scheduled to visit the Himmah food bank, the Hubb Community Kitchen and Epic Partners, which provides sports mentoring for children between the ages of four and 18.
Hubb Community Kitchen was founded after the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives, and has remained one of Meghan’s key charitable interests.
She contributed the foreword to the group’s 2018 cookbook, Together.
The latest visit follows a busy two weeks for Meghan, who has launched a new advent calendar and announced a collaboration with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
She is donating a day’s proceeds of all jam and tea sales from her Californian brand As Ever to Yousafzai’s charity, the Malala Fund, in honour of the International Day of the Girl on October 11.
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Although Our News Outlet’s Alison Boshoff revealed that this may end up being less than the £2,000 value of the trousers she wore when they met at Claridge’s last week.
On Sunday, alongside a shot of her grinning at that tea, as Malala looked solemn, the Duchess shared a joint statement from the pair.
‘When we support the girls today, we empower the women of tomorrow. Access to education is the key to unlocking this,’ she said.
She then told her 4.9million followers: ‘This International Day of the Girl, in partnership with Archewell Philanthropies, 100 per cent of net proceeds from As Ever jams and teas will support Malala Fund and its vital work to ensure every girl has access to free safe quality education. Tea for Two has never felt so good. Shop at asever.com’.
Her office this week declined to confirm any sales figures from Sunday.
Even a generous extrapolation from the only available data suggests a day of proceeds from tea and jam will add around £1,900 to the Malala Fund coffers.
Meghan with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala after a ‘private’ tea at Claridge’s
Despite becoming increasingly active in the UK, including through a number of visits to London, the couple have yet to meet King Charles and remain estranged from the Prince and Princess of Wales.
One source claimed the Sussexes have taken their Christmas plans into their own hands because they ‘know they’re not invited’ to Sandringham.
It would be ‘too difficult and awkward’ to spend Christmas with the Royal Family, a friend said.
‘They won’t be having Christmas with the Royal Family. How could that even work? They know it would be too awkward and too difficult. They also know they’re not going to be invited, and they’re not waiting for an invitation.
‘For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they will do whatever Doria wants to do. They would love her to come over to the UK and spend it with them here, but they will be wherever she wants to be.’
The friend added: ‘He [Harry] has not yet seen the King, who is still in Scotland, but it will happen.’
The couple are expected to spend the festive period with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, 70, who lives less than a two-hour drive from their Montecito home.
Another friend told Our News Outlet that the Sussexes are trying to ‘keep their heads down between now and Christmas’, when they will return to California for the holidays.
Harry and Meghan are understood to be planning to spend school holidays and half-term breaks either in California or Portugal, where they also own a property.
Ms Ragland has been a constant presence in the family’s life since the couple stepped down as senior royals and relocated to the United States in 2020. She lives in a bungalow in an affluent residential area outside Los Angeles and has formed a particularly close bond with her grandchildren.
As for Archie and Lilibet’s other grandparents, King Charles and Queen Camilla saw them in person for the first time in four years at Highgrove in July.
It is understood Harry remains in contact with his father by phone. The monarch is enjoying an extended summer and autumn break at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Harry and the Prince of Wales have not spoken since 2022.
