Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are returning to a community they’ve supported for years as they make their first official joint appearance since moving their family back to the U.K. Click the link in the first comment for the full story. ⬇️ 📷: Joe Giddens – Pool/Getty

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are returning to a community they’ve supported for years as they make their first official joint appearance since moving their family back to the U.K.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Nottingham, England, on Thursday, Oct. 15, for a series of charity visits, including one with a tie to their 2018 royal wedding.

For their final stop of the day, Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, visited Epic Partners, which supports children and families in Nottingham through youth work, sports, mentoring and education. The organization has a particularly personal connection to Meghan: One of the young women she previously mentored through its programs, Leonora Ncomanzi, was invited to the couple’s 2018 wedding celebrations.

Meghan first met young people supported by Epic’s Full Effect program during the couple’s December 2017 visit to Nottingham Academy before later returning privately to spend time with the organization’s girls’ nurture group.

During Thursday’s visit, Harry and Meghan helped a staffer, Michaela Castillo-Williams, celebrate her 30th birthday. After helping to frost some cupcakes — which Harry couldn’t resist licking from his fingers when the chocolate oozed out — the couple joined the staff in singing “Happy Birthday” after she picked her favourite cupcake. Both Meghan and Harry clapped enthusiastically as Michaela took a bite.

Michaela says, “I’ve met Harry four times, but I’ve never met Meghan before, and she sung happy birthday to me, which was insane. Incredible!”

In the gymnasium, where some children were playing basketball, some asked Meghan to sign their notebooks. The Duchess of Sussex’s note to 11-year-old Kelsey read, “Dear Kelsey, Keep shining. All my best, Meghan.” The youngster then got Harry to add his name next to his wife’s.

“It’s amazing here,” she says of the center which she attends most days. “We do sports and cooking, all kinds of things. I liked her accent. I liked Meghan’s accent. I like how they’ve come to Nottingham and come to see the children and give them an experience.”

Harry’s relationship with the Nottingham community dates back to a 2013 visit that helped lead to the creation of Full Effect, a partnership between Epic and the Community Recording Studio (CRS), another stop on the couple’s itinerary. Supported by The Royal Foundation from 2013 to 2020, the program combined community-based support and school interventions with music and creative activities to help steer young people away from violence and crime.

The Royal Foundation was established by Harry and his brother, Prince William, in 2009, with Kate Middleton joining after her 2011 marriage to William. Meghan became involved following her engagement to Harry, and the four famously appeared together onstage at the inaugural Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018, where they discussed their shared charitable ambitions. Harry even joked about the challenges of working together as a family — a moment that takes on new significance amid the brothers’ ongoing rift.

Meghan formally joined the foundation after their May 2018 wedding, but the couple’s professional partnership ended in 2019 when Harry and Meghan broke away to establish their own charitable organization.

More recently, Harry’s $1.5 million donation to BBC Children in Need, announced during his 2025 visit to Nottingham, has helped support CRS’s capacity and redevelopment as well as Epic’s work with young people affected by adverse childhood experiences. Launched in November 2025, the pilot was supporting 45 young people across seven schools by March 2026, providing mentoring, classroom assistance and behavioral support to improve educational engagement and reduce the risks of exclusion and exploitation.

The couple’s day also included a visit to Himmah Hub, a food poverty community action group. Meghan reunited with some of the women she supported at the Hubb Community Kitchen, a group that came together to prepare food for their community after being displaced following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. One of Meghan’s first projects as a member of the royal family was to collaborate with the women on a cookbook.

The day in Nottingham marked Harry and Meghan’s first official joint engagement since their family’s move back to the U.K. in August.

“It’s great to be back,” Meghan told one well-wisher she met.

Nottingham is also a meaningful place for Meghan and Harry. The pair made their first joint outing after they announced their engagement in November 2017. Four days after sharing their engagement news with the world, their visit to Nottingham marked Meghan’s first time joining Prince Harry on an official royal outing.

The outing in Nottingham marks another step as Harry and Meghan establish their new lives in Britain, balancing their charitable work with family life.