Meghan Markle visited a comprehensive school in east London this afternoon on her second day back in the UK.
The Duchess of Sussex was filmed getting out of a car and greeting teachers outside Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham.
The visit comes a day after she made a secret trip to the National Theatre in London after returning to Britain from Canada for her final engagements as a senior royal.
She was seen back in the UK for the first time yesterday as she left the exclusive Goring Hotel – the Queen’s favourite restaurant.
Her husband Harry was also spotted leaving the hotel just moments earlier as a member of the concierge team held an umbrella over his head in the rain.
The visit to Dagenham appeared to take many pupils by surprise, with some parents posting on social media that security had turned some away for not having the ‘any ID’
One wrote their child ‘has been turned away from Robert Clack for not having any Id on him by the police and security because someone called Meghan (prince Harry’s wife) is there this afternoon and no ID means you aint getting in.’
Others claimed pupils let out to attend appointments at the doctors were not being allowed back.
One pupil added: ‘So the day I don’t go to sixth form Meghan comes.’
Last night Meghan joined her husband Prince Harry at the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House on their first joint royal engagement since the Megxit crisis began. It is believed they have left Archie in Canada.
The annual event celebrates the achievements of wounded, sick and injured servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges.
The Duchess of Sussex was filmed getting out of a car and meeting teachers outside Robert Clack Upper School in Dagenham this afternoon
Meghan Markle has this afternoon arrived at a comprehensive school in east London on her second day back in the UK
The Duchess of Sussex was filmed getting out of a car and greeting teachers outside Robert Clack Upper School (pictured) in Dagenham
Mothers said there children had been turned away from the school because they didn’t have any identification
All eyes were on Meghan, 38, who has not been seen in this country since she and Harry made the dramatic announcement that they were quitting public life in early January, much to the distress of the Queen.
She presented the Celebrating Excellence Award during the event and said: ‘Its very nice to be back. Its the third year I’ve had the incredible fortune of joining my husband here. It’s just the most inspiring space.
‘When we were watching the [nomination] videos all the way in Canada we had the same moment of “how are you going to choose?” Well, we’ve done our best.’
Last night’s event is one of just a handful of engagements the couple are undertaking this weekend in the UK before returning to Canada to embark on their new life, ahead of their official departure on March 31.
Meghan was filmed arriving at the school in east London this afternoon
The Duchess of Sussex laughs during a visit to the National Theatre in London yesterday
The Duchess wore a Topshop blouse, a white bodycon pencil skirt, small gold hoop earrings and a gold coin pendant from Missoma for yesterday’s trip to the Theatre, where she is patron
Harry today met Formula One world champion driver Lewis Hamilton today to open a new museum showcasing the Silverstone racetrack heritage.
The Prince was driven to the doors of The Silverstone Experience in Northamptonshire this morning in a £65,000 electric Mercedes EQC 400 AMG by six-time champion Hamilton.
Tomorrow duke and duchess will then attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall on March 7, and Meghan will mark International Women’s Day.
On Wednesday, Harry waved to well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace as he was driven away in a Range Rover after a series of internal meetings with his team.
It came after they had a ‘heart to heart’ for four hours in her private apartments at Windsor Castle on Sunday about his imminent departure from the Royal Family.
Harry is said to have requested the meeting, and the Queen – who last saw her grandson during their showdown at Sandringham in January after Harry broke the news that he and Meghan were quitting – was happy to agree.
The Queen is believed to have told her grandson that she was keen to keep the door open for him and Meghan to return and stressed that he would be welcomed back from Canada at any time.
Prince Harry and Meghan at Mansion House in London for last night’s Endeavour Fund Awards
The Duchess of Sussex said it was ‘very nice to be back’ as she made her first public appearance in the UK last night
The couple put on a confident display as they arrived in pouring rain at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at London’s Mansion House on Thursday, smiling broadly during the event
Harry, who has always enjoyed a warm relationship with his grandmother, was apparently keen to ‘clear the air’ before he and Meghan formally step down as working royals on March 31.
He has been staying at Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s home on the Queen’s Windsor estate, since returning to the UK last week to undertake a handful of final official engagements.
He and Meghan have agreed to pay back £2.4million in taxpayer funds used to rebuild the property in light of their decision to relocate to North America.
It is understood that he and his grandmother shared a light lunch and tea on Sunday as they discussed his future.
The Queen was left deeply upset after Harry and Meghan decided to suddenly announce their plans to step down and move abroad in early January in an apparent effort to bounce the Royal Family into agreeing to their demands to retain the trappings of royal life, while pursuing independent commercial careers.
Meghan will stay on as patron of the National Theatre, which is on London’s Southbank (file)
And the couple were taken aback when Buckingham Palace made clear its displeasure and insisted that Harry would have to relinquish his HRH title as a non working royal and hand back their official patronages and his military positions, as well as dropping their plans to market themselves as ‘Sussex Royal’.
The Queen is said to be ‘very sad’ that she sees so little of Harry and Meghan’s son Archie, her great-grandson.
The meeting at the weekend was said to have been ‘productive and positive’. One source said Harry was seen leaving ‘deep in thought’.
But the couple have decided to leave Archie in Canada, meaning his British family haven’t seen him for more than four months.
Officially opening the building at Silverstone today, Harry said: ‘There’s nothing better than officially opening a building that is very much open’
Prince Harry and Formula One world champion driver Lewis Hamilton talks to children at the Silverstone Experience in Northamptonshire today as the Duke officially opens the museum
Last autumn, American ex-actress Meghan opened up about her struggles with royal life in an ITV documentary filmed on their Africa tour.
She said she had tried to cope with the pressures by putting on a ‘stiff upper lip’ but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.
‘It’s not enough to just survive something, that’s not the point of life. You have got to thrive,’ she added. Meghan told presenter Tom Bradby: ‘Not many people have asked if I’m OK.’
The Sussexes attended the previous annual Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony in February 2019, when the duchess was heavily pregnant with Archie.
The Duke and Duchess were pictured leaving the exclusive Goring Hotel in London (file image)
They were last seen together on an official engagement on January 7 when they visited Canada House in London to thank the nation for hosting them during their festive break in the Commonwealth country.
The following day, sixth in line Harry and former Suits star Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of turmoil when they announced they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent – a move dubbed Megxit by the press.
A summit of senior royals was later convened by the Queen at Sandringham to discuss the issue, with Harry sitting down for talks with his grandmother, father the Prince of Wales and brother the Duke of Cambridge.
It was eventually announced they would give up royal duties, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, no longer be known as HRHs, and their lives as working royals would end on March 31.
Today, Harry joined Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at the official opening of the Silverstone Experience, a museum about British motor racing.
Harry and Meghan will attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall tomorrow and the following day Meghan will mark International Women’s Day.
The duke and duchess will join the Queen and other royals at the Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey on Monday, their last official appearance as HRHs.