Inside Meghan's first few weeks in Britain - busy 'buying pencil cases' and preparing for big return


The Duchess of Sussex will see her two children settle in their new prep school this week - and she has plans for her future


Meghan Markle at the University of Bath Sports Training Village, Bath, for the UK team trials for the Invictus Games Sydney 2018. © PA Images via Getty Images
Gemma Strong
Gemma StrongOnline Digital News Director
53 minutes ago

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have successfully managed to keep a low profile since their return to the UK last month. But that could be about to change.

Friends close to the Sussexes have opened up about the couple's movements in recent weeks, which have been focused on preparing for their children's first day at their new British prep school. 

However, Meghan is also said to be focused on 'rekindling' her relationships with UK charities - and is expected to be photographed and publicised doing so.

Initially, when they left Britain in 2020, the Sussexes announced that they would “no longer participate in the royal rota system” that covers the royal family's public work. 

But that seems to have changed with some royal rota reporters given access to Harry's engagements in Britain in recent years.

Now it seems that Meghan, too, will want press coverage. The Times reports that she, Harry, and their team are considering creating a new “framework that is fair” for media access to their engagements.

School uniform and pencil cases

Currently, however, their focus is on children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five. The couple are prioritising settling them into their new family home and their new school, where they will enrol this week. 

Prince Harry hugs Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet at home in California
Archie and Lilibet are set to enrol at their new prep school this week

A friend told the publication that Harry and Meghan are still in the process of unpacking their things and recovering from jet lag. They have also been out buying school uniform and pencil cases - without being spotted. 

The insider said that the couple are 'excited' to be back and for everything that will follow. 

Meghan's plans

In the longer term, however, Meghan wants to return to her charity work. 

A source close to Meghan told the publication that she wants to get more involved with supporting the causes she was involved with prior to stepping down, and also wants to look for more charitable projects to endorse.

duchess of sussex smart works grant© Photo: Getty Images
Meghan became a patron of Smart Works after her marriage to Harry

Top of the list is likely Smart Works - one of four patronages she took on after her marriage to Harry in 2018, and the only one she retained after the Sussexes stepped back as working royals. 

Smart Works is a UK charity that helps unemployed women gain the confidence, clothes, and skills they need to secure a job, and Meghan has continued to support the organisation from the US. 

A representative from the charity recently told HELLO! that they "are very excited to welcome the Duchess and her family back to the UK". 

Harry's return

Harry is also preparing to step back into the spotlight. Later this month, he will undertake several days of engagements with some of his patronages and organisations he supports, including the Invictus Games, WellChild and Imperial College's Centre for Blast Injury Studies. 

He will also do a charity skydive this month, taking to the skies alongside fellow veterans to support Sunnybrook and the True Patriot Love Foundation, which aids military communities in Canada. 

Prince Harry wearing a grey suit© Getty Images
Harry is preparing to return to the spotlight this month

The skydive will be in honour of World War 2 veteran Ed Marshall, whom Harry met last year during a visit to Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto, and Harry will be joined by Ed's grandson Bailey.

No half-in half-out

While the Sussexes now live in far closer proximity to the royal family, they have accepted that there is no change to their status as non-working royals.

As such, they will not be invited to attend events such as Trooping the Colour or the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph. 

Royal family at the 2018 Trooping the Colour© WireImage
Despite their move back, Harry and Meghan are not expected to be invited to royal events, such as Trooping The Colour (seen here in 2018)

Sources close to Harry, who served two tours of Afghanistan during a ten-year military career, say he may choose to publicly mark Remembrance Sunday with one of his military charities. “He will do whatever they want him to do,” a friend said.

It was the late Queen who firmly rejected a "half-in, half-out" royal role for Harry and Meghan during the January 2020 Sandringham summit, insisting that members of the royal family cannot selectively pick working duties while retaining commercial ties or official status.

It's a stance that her son, King Charles, seems set on seeing through. 

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