Harry and Meghan make first joint UK engagement since moving back

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have carried out their first joint public engagement since moving back to the UK, returning to Nottingham for a day of charity visits that had the look and feel of a royal tour but no official royal status.

Harry and Meghan arrived at the Community Recording Studio, a youth charity that uses music and sport to mentor young people. It was their first joint appearance in England for six years. Meghan made her first official public appearance since returning to the UK, and her first public appearance in the country since the late Queen's funeral in 2022. The couple took selfies with fans, collected flowers and spoke to waiting crowds. A local supporter said Harry had known him for 13 years and 'shows up', while a 90-year-old woman queued for a hug and showed Meghan a photograph from the couple's visit nine years earlier.

Nottingham was chosen because it was where the couple made their first official royal engagement together in 2017, after announcing their engagement. The format on this trip was similar, but the reality was different. Harry and Meghan are no longer working royals. Buckingham Palace views them as private citizens, and the visits did not happen as official royal duty. They had private protection rather than police protection.

The couple visited three charities. The Community Recording Studio supports young people affected by violence and crime. They also visited the Himmer Hub, part of a group tackling food poverty and central England's largest food bank, before moving on to Epic Partners, which mentors young people. At a community kitchen, Meghan was reunited with women supported by the Grenfell fire response who featured in a community cookbook she helped produce in 2018. She helped make chicken tagine for 50 people. Meghan said the reunion was 'really, really meaningful'. She also said: 'It's great to be back. It's wonderful and nice to be back in Nottingham.' The third engagement was with an organisation working with young people, including a sports community centre helping those affected by trauma.

The day drew a large media turnout and a walkway of well-wishers. Crowd estimates varied. One report said around 100 well-wishers had gathered, while newspaper coverage described a smaller crowd than the couple's post-engagement visit nine years ago. Supporters said the couple were natural and friendly. 'They're natural and they're just like us,' one member of the public said. Another said the visit brought a 'fantastic vibe to Nottingham'.

The engagement marked a return to public life in the UK as a couple. Harry has been out and about on charity engagements since moving back, while Meghan has largely kept a low profile, aside from social media glimpses and a meeting over tea in London with campaigner Malala Yousafzai ahead of a charity collaboration. The couple set up home in England over the summer, six years after they stopped life as working royals and moved to the United States. Their return was described as a surprise to many in the royal family.

Family relationships remain sensitive. Harry and Meghan will not join the royals at Sandringham this Christmas and will spend the holiday privately with Meghan's mother. Harry is still fighting for publicly funded police protection in the UK, which he lost when the couple stepped back from royal duties. There is understood to be little to no relationship with his elder brother. Harry is keen to maintain close relations with his father, King Charles III, and for the children, Archie and Lilibet, to start their education in England. The children began the school term in September at one school before swiftly changing schools, with security concerns cited.

On the same day, the King and Queen carried out an official engagement in Wales, opening the new term of the Senedd. Chants of 'Not My King' were heard as they arrived and police arrested one protester.

The visit was widely seen as a success. Reports said regular joint events for Harry and Meghan would not happen all the time, but the day suggested they would do more together in future. Meghan is expected to focus on the children and her acting career, and reports said such events would be rare for her. Newspaper front pages the next morning were largely warm. The Daily Mail ran the headline 'My brave friend Meghan is back. And how? It was so dull without her.' Other papers noted a 'warm reception' in Nottingham and 'great to be back'. Some commentators described the visit as a fresh start after years of negative coverage, while others called it a pseudo-royal visit.