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Queen Elizabeth and Meghan Markle arrived in Chester Thursday morning to excitable crowds who had waited hours to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty and the newest member of the royal family. The Queen wore a green coat by Stuart Parvin and a hat by Rachel Trevor Morgan, while Meghan wore Givenchy, also the designer of her wedding gown. As they disembarked from the royal train, Meghan walked a step behind the Queen, adhering to protocol, and seemed to be a little nervous. As she was greeted by David Briggs (the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire) she told him, “I’m very happy to be here.”

Meghan’s somewhat-signature messy bun was nowhere to be seen; she wore her hair sleek and down, and also carried a clutch, both moves that may well have been cribbed from her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, who has been giving Meghan fashion advice since the spring.

Having spent the night together on the royal train, the Queen and the Duchess of Sussex pulled into Runcorn Station just after 10:30 am local time where they were met by a waiting car and driven to Mersey Gateway Bridge, a new six lane toll bridge over the River Mersey. Hundreds of people had queued for hours and cheered as the monarch and Meghan arrived at the bridge to meet architects, planners and community members. It is the first time Meghan has accompanied the Queen on a solo engagement, and Vanitiy Fair has learned that Meghan was personally invited by the Queen. Aides say that the away day is intended to show Meghan “the breadth of work the royal family carries out.”

The schedule has been carefully co-ordinated to reflect traditional elements of a royal day out along with a dash of culture which included music and performances. The Queen and the Duchess watched local school children perform a show called “Bringing Communities Together: Hatton’s River Crossings Over the Ages,” before the Queen unveiled a plaque to declare the bridge officially open.

From the bridge the royals headed to Storyhouse, a new theatre and library in the centre of Chester where they were given a tour of the building and observed a 72-second moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. On the way they stopped to watch a Syrian settlement group doing traditional craftwork and the second performance of the day, a dance by Fallen Angels, a local theatre group for recovering drug addicts. They then headed into the theatre to watch some set pieces from a production of A Little Night Music and see schoolchildren from local primary schools perform songs alongside actors from Swallows and Amazons. The Queen unveiled another plaque before making her way outside with Meghan to make the short walk to Chester Town Hall, where they were guests of honor for a lunch at Chester City Council.

Meghan’s first walkabout with the Queen was a great success. While Meghan was instructed to walk to the left of the crowds, the Queen greeted members of the public lined up on the right, accepting posies and chatting with royal fans. Keen not to dawdle, Meghan kept up a brisk pace as she shook hands and greeted people along the route. There were cheers for Her Majesty and Meghan as they made their way into the lunch.

The Queen seemed in an especially cheerful mood, smiling frequently, and spoke with Meghan often. In public engagements the Queen usually initiates conversation, but Meghan, who often turned to the Queen for a cue on what to do, seemed to need a bit of a guiding hand, and the Queen was more than happy to give it.

Today is the next step in a steep learning curve for Meghan, who has had a fast track introduction to royal duty since marrying into the royal family on May 19. She attended her first engagement, a garden party to honor the Prince of Wales, just three days after the royal wedding, and is expected to embark on a busy program of engagements now that the couple have returned from honeymoon.

Until now Meghan has always had Prince Harry by her side but today she was following in the Queen’s footsteps.

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will arrive in Chester Thursday morning alongside the Queen, and just weeks into her life as a royal will be at the Queen’s right-hand side for a busy day of engagements. The news that the Queen personally invited Meghan on the trip, her last away day before she heads to Balmoral for her annual summer break, is further proof of just how warmly the new Duchess of Sussex has been welcomed into the royal fold.

Sources close to the royal family said the Queen is keen to help mentor Meghan and ensure her transition from commoner to royal is as seamless as possible. “Lessons have been learned from the past and everyone is very keen that Meghan should feel included from the beginning,” a courtier said. “It feels like a team effort with many of the family making themselves available to help Meghan, and that includes the Queen.”

It is, added courtiers, all part of a master plan at the Palace that involves the Queen handing over more power and responsibilities to the younger royals she privately refers to as her “substitutes.” Kensington Palace announced last week that Prince Harry and Meghan will carry out their first overseas tour this fall, visiting Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, and New Zealand.

According to Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen, the Queen is keen to establish the couple as ambassadors within the Commonwealth as quickly as possible. “The Queen got the ball rolling by giving Harry a specific role in the Commonwealth, where he is widely admired, and where Meghan is already really popular. The Commonwealth is such a vital part of her legacy. At the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting she got the commitment that Charles would be the new head of the Commonwealth, and with Harry and Meghan, she can ensure that the British monarchy has a firm place in the next generation among the Commonwealth countries. The visit to Australia will help solidify that link.”

In other words, the Queen is helping to map out sharply defined roles for Meghan and Harry, and as she did with Kate, is bringing Meghan up to speed in a welcoming way. While Kate had to wait 10 months before she was invited on an away day with the Queen—a trip to Leicester—Meghan’s invitation from Buckingham Palace has come just weeks after the royal wedding.

“People are saying it’s very soon, but it’s really down to how the royal calendar has worked out,” insisted an aide. “The visit to Chester has been in the diary for some time, and it was seen as a brilliant opportunity for the duchess to join the Queen and to see the breadth of the work the royal family does.”

While Meghan carried out an impressive number of royal engagements in the run-up to the wedding, this is the most important. Refreshed from their recent honeymoon and apparently “ready to get down to some hard work,” Meghan won’t have Harry to show her the ropes tomorrow, and despite her natural confidence, she is likely to be nervous.

Sources close to the Queen insisted that the monarch will go out of her way to be warm and welcoming. “She has a way of being very inclusive while at the same time being a brilliant and formidable mentor. Meghan should count herself very lucky,” commented a royal source. The packed itinerary will include opening the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the Storyhouse theater and library in the center of town, as well as a royal walkabout and a formal sit-down lunch at Chester City Council. The Queen loves to meet the public, and while Meghan has already mastered the art of engaging with the crowds, she will observe firsthand how efficiently the Queen works the crowds in order to stick to their timetable.

Though Meghan has become famous for her relatively casual attire at royal engagements in the past, she is expected to make a special effort tomorrow. Her favored messy bun will likely be replaced by a more formal style, while wedges and bare legs will be a no-no. The Queen has an aversion to both.

And while Meghan broke with protocol, striding out ahead of Harry when she accompanied him on engagements ahead of their wedding, she will have been briefed to walk a step behind the monarch. If she’s unsure of anything, her new private secretary, Samantha Cohen, who used to work for the Queen and knows royal etiquette better than most, will be a whisper away. Meghan might benefit from one tip: if in doubt, talk about the weather. It’s a subject Her Majesty never tires of.

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/

And now there are four!

Meghan Markle has officially cemented her place in the key royal charity alongside husband Prince Harry and in-laws Prince William and Kate Middleton.

As expected, the new Duchess of Sussex is now the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation. The organization was originally set up to look after the charitable interests of William, 35, and Harry, 33, and subsequently Princess Kate, 36. Now the group has been renamed The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The change was made formal in a listing at Companies House, the official register in the U.K.

Soon after her engagement in November, Kensington Palace announced that Meghan, 36, would join the Foundation following her May 19 wedding — and even before then, Meghan began immersing herself in the causes she plans to champion.

She took an enthusiastic part in the first public forum of the Foundation in February, alongside Kate and William and her then-fiancé Harry. At the time, she described the cooperation of the fab foursome as “togetherness at its finest” and vowed to “hit the ground running” as she focuses on “girls’ empowerment and women’s empowerment,” among other causes.

PEOPLE understands she will have a role within the royals’ ongoing mental health initiative, and she has been visiting various people in the local community and charity sectors as she prepares for her new work.

Source: https://people.com/

The Duchess of Sussex will spend the day with the Queen next week, carrying out a day of engagements in Cheshire on Thursday 14 June. New dates in the court circular reveal that the royals will officially open the Mersey Gateway Bridge before opening the Storyhouse Theatre. Meghan and the monarch will then attend a lunch at Chester Town Hall.

Meghan’s day out with the Queen marks a milestone in her royal life. It is the first time the former actress is carrying out official duties without her husband Prince Harry, and also marks her first engagement with the 92-year-old monarch. Meghan has previously accompanied the Queen on other engagements, such as at the Commonwealth Day service in March, but she was joined by other members of the royal family.

Meghan officially joined the royal family two weeks ago, when she married Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. In contrast, the Duchess of Cambridge waited nearly a year before she carried out her first engagement with the Queen, without her husband Prince William. In March 2012, Kate and the monarch visited the iconic Fortnum & Mason store in central London, accompanied by Prince Charles’ wife Camilla.

Harry, 33, and Meghan, 36, are currently on their honeymoon, but the couple are expected to make their next official appearance on Saturday at Trooping the Colour. The newlyweds will join the rest of the royal family in celebrating the Queen’s birthday at Buckingham Palace. Kate, who is on maternity leave until the autumn, is also expected to make a rare appearance. The Duchess’ children Prince George and Princess Charlotte will join in the festivities, but it’s thought that William and Kate’s newborn son, Prince Louis, is still too young.

Despite being on their honeymoon, Harry did choose to announce some very exciting work-related news. The Prince revealed via Kensington Palace that the fifth Invictus Games will be hosted by the Netherlands in May 2020. Harry is patron and founder of the Invictus Games Foundation and will visit the country next month.

Source: https://www.hellomagazine.com/