Prince Harry, Meghan make first joint appearance since UK return

NOTTINGHAM Prince Harry and his wife Meghan appeared together in public on Thursday for the first time since they made a surprise return to Britain, ‌returning to the city where they made their maiden joint official engagement nine years ago. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, and Meghan shocked the monarch and other members of the royal family when they relocated from California to England two months ago with their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. In their first joint public outing since then, the couple returned to Nottingham in central England which they visited in 2017, shortly after it ⁠was announced they were getting married. They began by visiting a recording studio run by a youth and community charity which has received support from a £1.1 million ($1.46 million) donation announced by Harry last year. Later they were to visit a charity which tackles food poverty run by a group called Himmah to which Meghan donated £10,000 from sales of a cookbook released to raise funds in the wake of London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster. The engagements conclude with a visit to another charity the couple have backed which supports young people and is linked to their previous visit in 2017. Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have become deeply polarising figures since they stepped down from royal duties to move ‌to California ⁠in 2020, going on to deliver scathing criticism of both the prince's family and the royal institution itself. Opinion polls show a majority of Britons hold a negative opinion of them, although young people are far more sympathetic. On their visit to Nottingham nine years ago they were met by large flag-waving cheering crowds. Thursday's visit was a much lower-key affair, but the couple chatted with about 100 excited schoolchildren ⁠and well-wishers joined by large numbers of media.