Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are due to visit Nottingham on Thursday for their first joint engagement since returning to the UK, according to the BBC, The Independent and the Press Association.
What is planned
The Independent reports the couple are expected to visit the Community Recording Studio in St Ann’s, a charity set up to give young people access to music and recording facilities. It now offers creative activities, sport, mentoring and youth development for young people facing poverty, instability, exploitation or violence. The BBC says the pair are believed to visit a number of organisations, including the studio, which Harry has been to before, most recently in 2025.
The Independent says the itinerary appears to resemble the kind of visit the couple carried out before they stepped back from royal duties in 2020. Both outlets describe it as their first royal-style joint engagement since they came back.
Why Nottingham
Nottingham is where Harry and Meghan made their first joint public appearance after announcing their engagement in 2017, the BBC notes. They met crowds in the city’s Lace Market and visited a World AIDS Day charity fair. The Independent says Harry’s link to St Ann’s goes back to a private visit in 2013, and that he made a 1.1 million pound donation to BBC Children in Need, announced during a September 2025 visit, which is being used in the studio’s redevelopment.
Background
The couple and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, returned to live in the UK in August after six years in the U.S., according to the BBC. Both outlets say they have been in a public disagreement with Buckingham Palace over their status and security detail. They have reportedly settled in the Cotswolds. Last month, a letter sent on the King’s instruction said they should be viewed as “private citizens” on their return, which “surprised” the Sussexes, the BBC reports.
The BBC and The Independent also say the couple are thought to be spending Christmas with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, rather than with the King at Sandringham. The Times has reported they are “not going to be invited” and are “not waiting for an invitation.”
Meghan’s recent projects
The Independent notes that on Sunday, Meghan posted a photo with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to mark International Day of the Girl, and said net proceeds from her brand’s jams and teas that day would go to the Malala Fund. She also launched a sweatshirt with Moms Offering More. We covered that in Meghan Markle’s charity sweatshirt that sold out.
Sources: BBC News, The Independent, Press Association. The visit had not taken place at the time of writing. Images are editorial cartoons, not photographs.
