Today, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a reception marking the culmination of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Youth Leadership Workshop. Held at Marlborough House in London, the event corresponds with Harry’s new role as the Commonwealth’s Youth Ambassador and gives the couple an opportunity to learn more about the Youth Forum and its participants.
Specifically, Harry and Meghan were able to meet with young leaders from Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji, countries which they will be visiting this autumn.
Held outside (which is difficult for me to imagine in the sweltering hear where I am), the pair mingled with guests and Harry delivered a short speech expressing his eagerness to learn more and participate in the program.
With 60 percent of the Commonwealth population under 30, ensuring and supporting the younger generations is considered crucial to the Commonwealth’s longevity – the initiative also goes hand in hand with many of the domestic organizations the British Royal Family supports. The Dukes of Edinburgh and Cambridge, the Prince of Wales and Harry himself have all, at various points, taken on the mantle of engaging and providing opportunity for children and adolescents.
This evening, Meghan wore a new dress from Brandon Maxwell, a brand debut for her – publicly, at least. A bold yellow, this look is a nice right-turn from the pale pinks we’ve mostly seen her in since her wedding, but as I noted last week, almost all of her appearances since May have been of the uber-royal variety, not standard work days. You don’t mess around when with the Queen or at Trooping, for example, while day-to-day engagements give more of an opportunity to let personal style shine through a touch more.
I, for one, was pleased to see Meghan’s signature bun make a return appearance(!)
All eyes, including mine, are on if and when Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge will make it to Wimbledon this year. I would be genuinely surprised if we don’t see either at some point given Kate’s love for the sport (and patronage of it) and Meghan’s friendship with Serena Williams, however we’ll see. The only year Kate’s ever missed the games was in 2013 when heavily pregnant with Prince George and on doctors’ orders and so, since she attended when still on maternity leave with Princess Charlotte two years later, I’m somewhat confident. Will we get the Kate-Meghan double appearance we all want? I’m still hopeful – Roger Federer (a Middleton fave) and Serena Williams are both slated to play tomorrow and there’s still time next week after Meghan returns from Dublin.
On that note, let’s catch up briefly on the rest of the gang. The Queen is currently in Edinburgh for Holyrood Week, which I’d like to cover off on separately later this week or weekend. Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, meanwhile, are in Wales for their annual trek, while William has resumed a regular cadence of appearances following his Middle Eastern tour – today, for example, he is also in Scotland, though not with his grandmother.
The next big event will be Monday’s christening for Prince Louis in London. Not only will we get to see Kate for the first time since Trooping, but we’ll likely finally get that shot of all five Cambridges we’ve been waiting for. Much to look forward to! We’ll cover it all here and in the meantime, there’s plenty of history slated for the next couple of weeks 🙂