Meghan's mixed reaction as she returns to royal life

Meghan Markle tonight received a mixed reaction from a crowd in Windsor as she returned to royal life alongside Prince Harry for a surprise appearance with the Prince and Princess of Wales. 

King Charles III’s warring sons Prince William and Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan all appeared in black at Windsor Castle this evening to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

While the foursome were greeted by applause as they walked through the gates of Windsor Castle together to honour the legacy of Her Majesty, other moments between the British public and the Duchess of Sussex appeared not to run as smoothly.

The royal mother-of-two, who stepped back from royal duty last year and now lives in her $14 million mansion in the US, has released a series of bombshell interviews in the last 18 months about her time in the royal family.

Meghan was seen cooing over babies in the crowd and even offered hugs out to some of the mourners waiting – but others in the crowd greeted Meghan with stony faces this evening as she took part in the walkabout.

Tonight’s bombshell marks the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown.

Harry and Meghan, who sensationally quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan’s back.

They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them.

A Kensington Palace source said that the Prince of Wales invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier today.

The Sussexes’ friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie later claimed on Twitter that the invitation was made at the ’11th hour’. However, hinting that William is prepared to extend Harry an olive branch and work towards melting the ice between them, he declared: ‘It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers’.

At one moment, a small Paddington Bear was given to William, which he passed on to an aide. He was seen lightly touching Kate’s back at one moment as she crouched down again to speak to a child at the front of the gates. 

Kate crouched down at one moment and began speaking to a child who had started to cry. The child stopped crying when Kate approached her.

Meanwhile the Duchess of Sussex was seen being given a close hug by a young girl in the crowd at Windsor Castle.

Meghan walked over to a section of the crowd and approached a teenager, who was seen putting her hand over her mouth in shock. The pair spoke briefly for a few moments and Meghan could be seen assuring her by putting her hand on her shoulder.

The girl then said: ‘Can I have a hug?’ and Meghan was seen nodding, before leaning in and giving her a big hug. The touching moment was filmed by other members in the crowd.

One well-wisher who spoke to Harry and Meghan told MailOnline: ‘It’s lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship.

‘Lovely ripple went through the crowd as they approached. Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I’m just so excited to have seen them both together. It’s lovely.’

Another mourner said: ‘We couldn’t believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I’ll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them. 

‘I’m pleased that they came out together and as a family I’m delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that’s happened.’ 

It comes after it was reported King Charles ‘told’ Prince Harry not to bring wife Meghan to Balmoral Castle as he and other senior royals rushed to the beside of the dying Queen.

Amid the personal family tragedy on Thursday, when the Queen died at the age of 96, a small domestic drama was playing out involving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It was a fortunate coincidence of sorts that Harry and Meghan were in the country when the prince’s grandmother passed away, sparing him an emotional and undoubtedly traumatic transatlantic dash as the Queen’s health failed.

Despite the rancour of the past few years, no one would begrudge him the chance to mourn his beloved ‘Granny’, with whom he had always enjoyed a warm and fun-loving relationship.

But as the royal households were consumed in concern for the ailing monarch, the Sussexes prompted an unprecedented flurry behind the scenes by announcing that Harry and Meghan would both be travelling to Balmoral.

According to The Sun, Prince Harry was at Frogmore Cottage when he received a call from his father asking him not to bring Meghan.

‘Charles told Harry that it wasn’t right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time,’ a source told the newspaper.

‘It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family.

‘Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.’

Meanwhile The Telegraph reported that Harry was not initially summoned when senior royals made their way up to Balmoral, like his brother Prince William was, due to constitutional reasons.

A royal insider also said that ‘it’s quite hard to spend too much time with someone you know is about to publish a tell-all book about you.’

Another added: ‘I think the general reaction to Harry and Meghan’s behaviour has been one of incredulity to be honest.’

News of their plans came via the small group of media the Sussexes deem it appropriate to deal with and tweeted out by journalists at 1.53pm. The statement read: ‘From a spokesperson: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be travelling to Scotland.’

This was, of course, news to the Palace and it did not go down well. Many behind royal walls, frankly, were incredulous.

There was half an hour on Thursday following the Sussexes’ initial announcement during which matters quickly came to a head.

It is still unclear how much pressure was brought to bear by the Palace itself – or whether senior royal were involved – but a spokesman for the couple frantically began to ‘clarify’ their position, informing those same journalists that ‘only the duke was travelling at the moment’.

Exactly what happened is open to speculation. Some say that Harry and Meghan hadn’t considered that William’s wife wouldn’t be there, with Kate staying in London instead, and when it was pointed out that she wouldn’t be, they realised how bad it looked.

Others believe Meghan was effectively banned, using the argument that Kate – now the Princess of Wales – was staying at home.

Either way, their hurried announcement that only Harry would be making the trip north from the capital prompted a sigh of relief among aides.

Putting aside the anguish of the past few years, the initial decision in itself, that both Sussexes would travel, was seen as wholly inappropriate, according to palace insiders, for one very simple reason: this was a private, family moment.

Only the two oldest children of the elderly monarch – Charles and Anne – were present when the Queen passed away.

Her other children, Andrew and Edward, arrived as soon as they could afterwards on a plane with Prince William, who is now first in line to the throne.

Edward was accompanied by his wife, Sophie, but she is adored by the Queen, who views her as a second daughter, and is likely to have been there at her request.

Although most have assumed that Kate stayed behind because it was her children’s first day at school, which is in part true, she instinctively knew this was an occasion for the Queen’s blood family.

It is impossible to forget that events are taking place against a backdrop of unimaginable bitterness.

So deep is the rift between the two brothers that even though Harry and William have been temporarily living just a few minutes’ walk from each other at Windsor this week, there has been no attempt at contact from either party.

Relations are little better with any other members of the family either – King Charles, in particular, has been left bewildered and deeply hurt by his younger son’s incessant attacks.

While no one wants an all-out war, few are in a hurry to forgive or forget Meghan’s series of laser-guided and deeply harmful accusations against family members, as well as the institution of the monarchy itself.

It was noticeable that there was no invitation for Harry to join the family party that headed north on Thursday, taking off from RAF Northolt bound for Aberdeen.

He made his own way to Balmoral by private jet and faced a lonely drive to the castle, finally arriving at 7.52pm – an hour and a half after the palace’s historic statement informing the nation of the death of Her Majesty.

He was seen being driven out at 8.28am yesterday, little more than 12 hours later.

During that time he would have had to kiss his father’s hand, curtsey to his step-mother – and break bread with those he has caused so much hurt. The brothers now face seeing a lot of each other as they prepare for the Queen’s funeral.