Harry and Meghan make first public appearance together in Europe since quitting as royals
ITV News' Lizzie Robinson reports from The Hague as Harry and Meghan make their first visit to Europe together since they stepped back as working royals
Harry and Meghan have made their first public appearance together in Europe since they dramatically quit the Royal Family more than two years ago.
The couple arrived at the Invictus Games in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Friday, after they secretly jetted to the UK to visit the Queen.
The Sussexes, both wearing suits, walked towards a friends-and-family reception in the warm sunshine at the Zuiderpark, where the games are being held.
Harry wore a navy suit and Meghan wore an all-white suit with a white handbag.
Their European trip comes as the Queen cancelled her attendance at various important events in the Royal calendar including the Easter Sunday church service, while she experiences ongoing mobility issues.
Harry and Meghan are also believed to have met with the Prince of Wales before continuing on to The Hague, the first time Meghan has seen her father-in-law since she made accusations of racism against an unnamed senior member of the Family in an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
It is understood the couple were at Windsor Castle on Thursday, having flown in from their home in the US. They moved stateside in 2020 for a new life of personal and financial freedom.
Harry and Meghan’s trip to the UK this week comes after the pair were absent from the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in London last month.
Harry is bringing a claim against the Home Office after being told he would no longer be given the same degree of personal protective security when visiting from the US, despite offering to pay for it himself.
The duke wants to bring his children to visit, but he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous, his legal representative has said.
Earlier this week, Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, said the idea Harry is unable to come to the UK due to safety concerns is “sheer unadulterated nonsense”, adding the duke is “not an expert in security”.
Speaking about the likely security arrangements in The Hague, Mr Davies said: “I have no doubt that he will be protected, whether he takes his own team or whether the Dutch authorities give him some kind of VIP status.
“The truth is, if there’s a risk both countries – ours and the Netherlands – have sophisticated systems of determining risk.
“This country has determined he is no longer at risk. That may or may not be true, but people far better qualified than I am now can make that decision and they never make it lightly.”
He said the Ministry of Defence is involved in looking after royals in the Netherlands, and while there is a royal protection squad he said it is not as big or as experienced as the UK’s squad.
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In April 2021, Harry flew back from California, without Meghan who was heavily pregnant at the time, to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Windsor .
He most recently returned to the UK to unveil the statue of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales on July 1, 2021 with the Duke of Cambridge.
A film crew is expected to be joining Meghan and Harry at the Invictus Games as part of filming for a Netflix series called Heart Of Invictus.
The Games was where Harry and Meghan chose to make their first public appearance together, in Toronto, Canada, almost five years ago.
The next day, the pair emerged hand in hand to make their first official public appearance together at the wheelchair tennis.
Harry founded the games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military personnel and veterans from across the globe, by giving them the challenge of competing in sporting events similar to the Paralympics.