Prince Harry and Meghan are preparing for their first joint public appearance in the UK since returning to the country as private citizens, with a series of charity visits scheduled in Nottingham this Thursday. The engagements will bring the couple back to a city closely associated with the early days of their relationship, while offering a glimpse into how they are shaping their public lives outside the Royal Family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to visit three charities in the East Midlands, including a community food initiative established in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. Their itinerary will also include opportunities to meet people involved in local community work, with Meghan due to participate in an acting workshop.

The visit follows a busy period for both Sussexes. Meghan recently met Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai at London’s Claridge’s hotel, while Harry attended a rugby match in Leicester on Friday, where sections of the crowd booed when he appeared on the stadium screens.

Nottingham holds particular significance for the couple. It was here, in 2017, that they undertook their first joint royal walkabout.

Three charity visits planned for Nottingham

The Sussexes are expected to visit the Community Recording Studio, the Himmah food bank and Epic Partners, which provides sports mentoring for children aged four to 18.

At the Community Recording Studio, Meghan is scheduled to take part in an acting workshop. Her involvement comes amid renewed speculation about a possible return to acting, with one source insisting that she will ‘definitely’ be returning to the stage and screen.

There have also been reports that Meghan is interested in securing a role in the next series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix drama, The Gentlemen. A friend said she had received numerous scripts and was considering them.

Another stop on the itinerary will be the Hubb Community Kitchen, an organisation established following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, which claimed 72 lives.

The kitchen has long been one of Meghan’s personal causes. In 2018, she wrote the foreword to its cookbook, Together, helping bring attention to the community initiative and its work.

The upcoming engagements have a distinctly royal-style feel, although the couple are no longer working members of the Royal Family. Their growing involvement in UK activities has included several visits to London, but they have yet to meet King Charles during their latest period in the country. Relations with the Prince and Princess of Wales also remain strained.

Meghan promotes sold-out charity sweatshirt

Away from the Nottingham visit, Meghan has been announced as the new face of a Los Angeles charity that supports single mothers.

She modelled a limited-edition cream and chocolate-brown sweatshirt priced at £76 ($100). The design, which has already sold out, features the words ‘It’s the little things’ embroidered on the back and sleeve. Meghan appeared to have selected the item herself.

In a photograph shared online, she paired the sweatshirt with a blue-and-white pinstripe shirt and a chunky silver ring.

The promotion came shortly after Meghan posted footage of her children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, riding scooters through an expansive English estate as a herd of deer moved nearby.

The video offered a rare glimpse of the children during the family’s UK stay. Harry and Meghan had otherwise appeared together publicly only in a video Meghan posted after their return to Britain in late August.

Christmas plans take shape amid family tensions

Despite their increasing activity in Britain, Harry and Meghan are reportedly making their own arrangements for the festive season rather than expecting to spend Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham.

A source claimed the couple had accepted that they would not be invited to join the traditional gathering. A friend said a reunion would be too uncomfortable given the current state of family relationships.

‘They won’t be having Christmas with the Royal Family. How could that even work? They know it would be too awkward and too difficult. They also know they’re not going to be invited, and they’re not waiting for an invitation,’ the friend said.

The same source said the couple intended to organise Thanksgiving and Christmas around Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, 70. They would welcome her to the UK if she wanted to visit, but were prepared to celebrate wherever she preferred.

Another friend told the Daily Mail that the Sussexes were trying to ‘keep their heads down between now and Christmas’ before returning to California for the holidays.

The couple are expected to spend the festive period with Ragland, who lives less than a two-hour drive from their home in Montecito, California. They are also understood to be considering California or Portugal for school holidays and half-term breaks, with the family owning a property in Portugal as well.

Ragland has remained a constant presence in the couple’s lives since they stepped back from their senior royal roles and moved to the United States in 2020. She lives in a bungalow in an affluent residential area outside Los Angeles and is particularly close to her grandchildren.

Harry has yet to see his father during the latest UK visit, although a friend said a meeting would take place. The King remains in Scotland, where he is enjoying an extended summer and autumn break at Balmoral Castle.

It is understood that Harry continues to speak to Charles by telephone. The King and Queen Camilla saw Archie and Lilibet in person at Highgrove in July, their first face-to-face meeting with the children in four years.

Harry and his brother, the Prince of Wales, have not spoken since 2022.

Meghan’s meeting with Malala and As Ever’s charitable pledge

Meghan has also been devoting significant time to her lifestyle brand, As Ever, which announced on Sunday that it would donate 100 per cent of the net profits from its teas and jams to the Malala Fund for the duration of International Day of the Girl.

The announcement followed Meghan’s meeting with Malala Yousafzai in London last Wednesday. The pair shared a joint statement on Instagram, accompanied by two photographs of them enjoying afternoon tea at Claridge’s in central London.

They were pictured embracing warmly after dining in the hotel’s celebrated Foyer and Reading Room, where afternoon tea costs £95 per person.

The meeting marked Meghan’s first public appearance in the capital since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022.

As Ever has also introduced a luxury Christmas advent calendar priced at $148 (£112). Launched this month, the limited-edition product was inspired by the family’s Montecito mansion and created in collaboration with Los Angeles chocolatier Compartes.

The calendar is intended for customers in the United States and is not available for delivery to the UK.

Its launch prompted a disagreement after some Church of England vicars encouraged their followers to purchase a less expensive advent calendar sold in aid of charity instead. One vicar subsequently had to lock down his social media accounts following a wave of hostile messages from people claiming to support the Duchess.

Harry faces a mixed reception at Leicester rugby match

Harry’s appearance at Friday night’s Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester attracted a less-than-warm response from some spectators.

The Duke was booed when he appeared on the stadium screens, prompting television commentator Nick Mullins to remark: ‘Well, that wasn’t overly welcoming, was it?’

Harry watched the match from the stands alongside his cousin George McCorquodale. They were accompanied by Andrea Pinchen, chief executive of Leicester Tigers.

A keen rugby enthusiast, Harry served as patron of the Rugby Football Union from 2016 until 2021.

His attendance came amid the Sussexes’ continuing efforts to secure taxpayer-funded police protection when visiting Britain. The couple previously pursued an unsuccessful legal challenge concerning the security arrangements provided to Harry during visits from the United States.

However, the issue may be reconsidered following a change in the family’s circumstances. The committee responsible for royal and VIP security, known as Ravec, is understood to be reviewing the level of police protection available to the couple now that Harry, Meghan and their two children are full-time residents.

The question of security remains a significant consideration as the Sussexes continue to increase their public activities in the UK.

A new chapter, with family questions unresolved

The Nottingham engagements represent another step in Harry and Meghan’s efforts to maintain connections with Britain through charitable work and public appearances, despite their departure from senior royal duties.

Their planned visits bring together causes that reflect Meghan’s established charitable interests, particularly community support and opportunities for young people. At the same time, their family arrangements underline the distance that remains between the Sussexes and other members of the Royal Family.

With Christmas approaching, the couple are expected to return to California and spend the holidays with Meghan’s mother, while continuing to consider how best to divide their time between the United States, the UK and Portugal.

For now, their upcoming Nottingham visit will place the focus on their charitable commitments, even as questions surrounding family relationships, future acting projects and Harry’s security arrangements continue to accompany their return to Britain.