Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their first official joint visit to Scotland today, travelling around Edinburgh for a series of engagements designed to introduce Meghan to the United Kingdom ahead of her May wedding day.
The couple arrived at Edinburgh Castle at noon and met members of the public who’d waited for them to arrive on the Esplanade.
Sarah Coronado, a student at the University of Edinburgh who met the couple later told the BBC that “seeing the couple is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We don’t have these visits in Mexico or my hometown of Monterey.”
“I also think Meghan is a role model, she’s not just a pretty face. I think she’s going to change the face of the monarchy.”
Prince Harry and Meghan were greeted formally by the Band of the Royal Marines and a Shetland pony named Cruachan, who is the mascot of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He had a rather nippy greeting for Prince Harry, likely expecting a carrot and instead finding his hand.
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The couple joined the district gunner at the Royal Artillery for the firing of the one o’clock canon before departing for the Social Bites café.
Social Bite is a social enterprise that donates over 100,000 food and hot beverage items to homeless people in Scotland each year. Prince Harry and Meghan spoke to the co-owners of the café and toured its facilities, and Meghan noted that it seemed like a fun place to work when chatting with some of the kitchen workers.
Their trip to Edinburgh ended with a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse for the Scottish Government’s Year of Young People. There, Prince Harry and Meghan met with 50 young people between the ages of eight and 26 at the Great Gallery in the Palace, including a group of young people who serenaded them with an Ed Sheeran cover song.
