Meghan, Duchess of Sussex declares 'It's great to be back'

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, declared it is "great to be back" on her first public appearance since she and Prince Harry moved back to the UK.

The couple - who relocated from California back to England at the end of the summer - had a series of appointments in Nottingham, East Midlands, on Thursday (15.10.26), and they were delighted to return to the city where they made their first joint engagement after announcing their engagement back in 2017.

As they chatted to well-wishers waiting outside Community Recording Studio (CRS), Meghan said: “It’s great to be back."

Inside CRS, Harry had a private meeting with executives to hear about how his previous donation to BBC Children in Need was helping to support the facility, while Meghan took part in a confidence-building workshop with local schoolchildren.

The former Suits star - who has children Prince Archie, seven, and five-year-old Princess Lilibet with Harry - spoke to the children, who were aged between 10 and 11, as they made friendship bracelets.

She asked one table when the children "feel most yourselves", and one said when they were doing hobbies such as gymnastics and crafting.

The duchess replied: “My daughter’s doing gymnastics right now. She loves it.”

Meghan gave the children handwritten cards with an inspirational message inside, and said: “Sometimes you have to remember to be kind to yourself. And remember to talk to ourselves as we talk to our best friends."

The couple's next stop was food poverty community action group Himmah Hub, where Meghan reunited with some of the women she worked with from the Hubb Community Kitchen on a cookbook to raise money for the community affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017.

Meghan embraced each of the four women in turn before they gathered for a group hug as she said: “It’s been too long!”

One of the women, Leila Hedjem, said afterwards: “It was absolutely amazing, so lovely to see her. We’ve missed her. We said to her, ‘We’ve missed you!’

“We feel very protective of her. We absolutely love her. She’s warm, she’s kind, she’s naturally...a giver. We had a nice bond with her.”

Speaking after the meeting, Meghan told the BBC: "It was really, really meaningful. Thank you for asking."

Harry added: "It's great to be back. Wonderful and great to be back in Nottingham too."