Meghan Markle is considering a renewed focus on charitable work once Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are fully settled, as the Sussexes are said to be “excited about being back” in Britain.
The Duchess of Sussex, 45, and Prince Harry, 41, are understood to still be settling in and recovering from jet lag after leaving their Montecito home in California more than ten days ago.
According to reports, the couple have been keeping a low profile while shopping for school essentials, including uniforms and pencil cases, ahead of their children starting classes next week.
But the daily school run is reportedly the issue causing the greatest anxiety for Harry and Meghan, with sources claiming it presents the most significant security risks.
The Duke of Sussex is also said to have privately appealed to Shabana Mahmood for clarity over whether taxpayer-funded protection will be provided for his family.
Meanwhile, Meghan is thought to be eyeing up a return to charity work once Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, have settled in.
A source close to the duchess said ‘she wants to pick up with a lot of people’. It is understood to include Smart Works – a charity that supports unemployed and vulnerable women looking for jobs – with Meghan wanting to rekindle her public support.
She held four patronages after she wed Harry in 2018, but Smart Works was the only one she continued to support after she stopped working as a royal.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured in January 2020) returned to Britain more than ten days ago and are still unpacking at their new home in the Cotswolds
It is understood Meghan wants to resume her public support of Smart Works – a charity that supports unemployed and vulnerable women looking for jobs
She is expected to be photographed and publicised working with the charities. The duchess and Harry are considering creating a ‘fair’ structure for any media coverage after withdrawing from the royal rota system following their self-imposed exile in 2020.
‘She is thinking about plans for how she can get more involved and support the causes she was supporting and was passionate about again, and new causes too,’ the source told The Sunday Times.
Harry is expected to appear in a string of engagements this month for his patronages and organisations he supports. They include the annual WellChild Awards, the Invictus Games, and Imperial College’s Centre for Blast Injury Studies.
In 2019, Meghan launched the Smartset capsule collection to benefit Smart Works in a collaboration with fashion outlets Jigsaw, John Lewis, and Marks & Spencer.
At the launch on the roof garden of John Lewis in London, she said: ‘This is the kind of work that I’ve been doing for a really long time, and to be able to do it here in my new home in the UK means quite a bit to me.
‘It’s also the same kind of work that my husband and I will continue doing. Really strong, community-based projects and this is something we’ll be excited to share more about next year when we launch Sussex Royal.’
She added: ‘As women, it is 100 per cent our responsibility, I think, to support and uplift each other.
‘To champion each other so we aim to succeed, to not set each other up for failure but instead to really be there rallying round each other and say “I want to help you”.’
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Friends have told The Sunday Times that Harry and Meghan are ‘excited about being back and everything that’s to come’.
But it is the school run that is the biggest area of concern for the couple, with a decision yet to be made on whether they would get taxpayer-funded security.
Scott Hamer, who worked in the Metropolitan Police’s royalty and specialist protection unit for 14 years until 2022, told The Telegraph the school run is ‘really, really difficult’.
He said: ‘The whole point of protection is to keep the diary as tight as possible, to ensure people who might want to do bad things do not have the opportunity to do so.
The Duchess of Sussex (right) hugs designer Misha Nonoo at the launch the Smart Works capsule collection at John Lewis in Oxford Street, London in 2019
Harry, Meghan and their children are thought to have landed back in Britain in a private jet ten days ago
‘With the school run, you can vary the route as much as you like but the start and end point will almost always be the same.’
A review of Harry’s security was apparently carried out on the orders of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) at the end of July by its risk management board (RMB).
However, the board is thought to have been unaware that he was planning a permanent move back to the UK when it considered its decision.
Harry wrote to the Home Secretary in mid-August to give formal notice of his family’s return to Britain, according to The Telegraph. He is still waiting to be told of RMB’s conclusions.
Original estimates of £5million-plus for armed police protection for the family when they were in the UK could therefore skyrocket if the Home Office agrees to fund his security and he remains in Britain with his family full-time.
The review followed a lengthy tussle over whether Harry was eligible as a non-working member of the Royal Family for taxpayer-funded support following his failed legal battle against the Government last year.
At the time, the Court of Appeal declared that a grievance did not equate to a valid legal argument.
After he lost the case, he blamed an ‘establishment stitch-up’, but continued to battle for a fresh RMB.
The Sussexes’ arrival comes amid fervent speculation over Meghan’s rumoured return to acting several years after she stepped away to focus on royal life.
Conflicting reports say she may or may not have a role lined up for the third series of Netflix’s The Gentlemen, the high-octane gangster drama spin-off of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film.
Asked about the rumours at the Edinburgh TV Festival last week, Netflix’s UK head of scripted series Manda Levin would only say: ‘All bets are off’.
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