The success of Harry and Meghan’s return to popularity will hit the royals smack in the face

Opinion: Admit it, how many of you wanted to see Prince Harry and Meghan’s return to the spotlight be a massive flop? Well, it wasn’t.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have only proven just how popular they still are, despite their dramatic royal exit six years ago − and all the things they’ve said about the Windsors since − drawing big crowds and posing for selfies with admirers.

The polarising couple spent the day in Nottingham in what was their first joint public appearance since moving back to the UK from California in late August.

The city was a poignant choice for Prince Harry and Meghan, who made their first-ever official royal appearance there in 2017, four days after announcing their engagement.

“It’s great to be back,” the duchess said as she arrived with Prince Harry for a busy program filled with multiple stops.

“It’s brilliant, wonderful.”

Read more

Meghan showered with bouquets on first joint public appearance with Harry since UK return

Prince Harry and Meghan were there not as working royals, but as public figures supporting charities and projects of interest to them.

A recent letter written by King Charles reiterated Harry and Meghan’s status as non-working royals had not changed since 2020, when they stepped back, and described them as “private citizens with commercial and charitable interests”. 

Team Sussex quickly hit back, saying they preferred the term “public figures”.

Harry and Meghan are indeed private citizens and not representatives of King Charles, but to those who came out to see them in Nottingham, that difference mattered very little.

“I know it’s not technically a royal engagement,” one woman in the crowd told a reporter, “but I wish it was. I wish they would reconcile. I wish they could be royal again.”

Meghan, who infamously complained about not being paid for walkabouts during her first Australian tour when she was a working royal, appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to mingling with the public.

On Thursday, the duchess hugged a 90-year-old woman in the crowd who was clutching a framed photograph of herself meeting the couple when they first came to Nottingham nine years ago.

Meghan said: “That was our very first walkabout. Oh my gosh, what a great memory. I remember this day so well, that is so special.”

A moderately sized crowd of more than 150 people stood behind barricades outside the Community Recording Studio, hoping to see the duke and duchess on their first stop of the day.

Harry and Meghan took their time shaking hands, posing for selfies and accepting gifts for them and their two children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, who now attend a school in the Cotswolds.

The reception from the public was warm and the day itself ran smoothly, even though Prince Harry and Meghan were 10 minutes late after their motorcade became stuck in traffic following the school run.

They no longer can rely on a police escort to clear traffic and instead were protected by their private security team.

Prince Harry and Meghan remain two of the most unpopular royals, according to the polls. The duchess has a slightly better approval rating than Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince Harry sits just a few places higher than his daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, YouGov found in July.

But when it comes to the public, Prince Harry and Meghan still have the power to pull a large crowd.

They did it in Australia in April across various appearances, including outside the Sydney Opera House and along the Yarra in Melbourne.

While this small pocket of Britain is not representative of the entire UK, optics matter, especially when it comes to Prince Harry and Meghan.

And Team Sussex will be taking this one as a major win.

Their day out in Nottingham appears to have been organised hastily, perhaps in response to the king’s letter, which drew a line in the sand by ruling out any chances of the couple returning to the fold as working royals.

The Sussexes, however, seem to have disregarded His Majesty’s wishes.

The CEO of the Community Recording Studio, a charity Prince Harry has supported since 2013, told the BBC they only found out about the couple’s planned visit a few weeks ago.

He described the contact from the Sussexes as “completely random, phoned, mentioned an idea, said they’d like to come down”.

“I thought it was going to be something in the future, next thing I know it’s two weeks later and we are here, so yeah it’s a complete shock,” he said.

Although Team Sussex insisted earlier this week that Meghan’s public appearances would be “relatively rare” as she focuses on motherhood and expanding her jam brand As ever, the success of the couple’s return to (unofficial) duty will not be lost on the king or the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Their popularity will hit the royal family smack in the face.

But will their day out in Nottingham actually create more tension between the Sussexes and the Windsors?

One has to wonder just what it all means for Prince William and Catherine and whether they really care what Harry and Meghan get up to.

But of course, they do.

Too often, the Sussexes and the Wales’ are compared and pitted against each other, though Harry and Meghan really don’t have to compete with William and his wife, who have very different agendas and responsibilities as future king and queen.

When it was revealed Harry and Meghan were returning to Britain, some commentators believed their move would push William and Catherine into action, forcing them to step up their engagements and do more in service of the crown.

After all, a little competition is healthy.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s day out in Nottingham has, by far, eclipsed other engagements carried out by the royals this week.

As the Sussexes were shaking hands and accepting bouquets of flowers in Nottingham, King Charles was opening the start of the new parliamentary term in Cardiff, Wales.

Coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan’s return to the public has, undoubtedly, been greater than the king’s outing and even Prince William’s game of cricket outside Buckingham Palace earlier this week.

There is a very real concern Harry and Meghan’s private, but very public, pursuits could overshadow the engagements carried out by the actual working royals.

Most members of the public don’t see a difference between working or non-working royals, especially when Prince Harry and Meghan continue to use their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles in everything they do.

Their day out in Nottingham, much like their four-day tour of Australia this year, closely followed the royal-visit blueprint.

There were the crowds, the barricades, the accredited media pack, a jam-packed program supporting local charities and groups and diplomatic dressing.

Meghan chose to wear all British designers: her burgundy coat and turtleneck are by luxury label Joseph, as was her black handbag, while the pencil skirt is by another high-end brand, The Fold. Her Jennifer Chamandi shoes were also British-designed, but made in Italy.

The duchess did add in one affordable accessory, her Marks and Spencer belt. On Wednesday Meghan was photographed having lunch with her hairdresser close to Kensington Palace wearing a black Marks and Spencer blazer, which has since sold out in all sizes.

Seeing photographs and vision of Harry and Meghan’s public return begs the question: are they really hoping to eventually come back as officially sanctioned working royals one day?

Both appeared overjoyed to be back doing what they previously said brought them so much pain that they were forced to flee to the US for sanctuary and privacy.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s last appearance together in the UK was four years ago at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

Since their exit, they’ve defied the late queen’s wishes by taking a half-in, half-out approach, a model the monarch was steadfastly against.

Many believed that way of doing things might work in the US, or Australia, or in the other places the Sussexes have done quasi-royal events, but never in Britain.

Prince Harry and Meghan, however, seem intent on doing things their own way, whether the king, or their critics, like it or not.

“It doesn’t bother them,” an unnamed friend of the couple told Hello!

“They never agreed they wouldn’t be half-in, half-out. That was what was foisted upon them.”