Meghan Markle has revealed she made a rare visit to the UK on Monday during her return from Geneva to Los Angeles International Airport.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, last officially visited Britain in 2022, when the late Queen Elizabeth II died. She also travelled via Heathrow in July 2024, when visiting Nigeria, according to reports at the time.
Meghan was in Switzerland on Sunday for the World Health Organisation’s 79th World Health Assembly, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Place des Nations.
Her visit came just two days before her eighth wedding anniversary with Prince Harry – which she heavily celebrated on Instagram with a host of unseen photographs from her Windsor nuptials.
To mark the occasion, Meghan also shared on her social media account how the British Airways flight crew on her journey back to the States on Monday presented her with a sweet card and gifts.
Sharing the signed card to her Instagram Stories on Monday, Meghan wrote: ‘Thanks to this amazing flight crew for all the love yesterday! Appreciate all your memories and kind words,’ and tagged British Airways alongside a Union Jack emoji.
The card read: ‘Dearest Harry and Meghan, Wishing you a wonderful wedding anniversary, With love, The whole British Airways family,’ and was also marked ‘BA 269’ and dated May 18.
The BA 269 flight was from London on Monday, departing 26 minutes later than expected on 15:31, before returning to Los Angeles at 19:25, meaning the Duchess spent time in the British capital on her journey from Geneva.
It’s unclear how long the mother-of-two spent in Heathrow airport, or if she visited anywhere else in the city. It’s also unknown why Meghan’s connecting flight was in London – she could also have travelled via Frankfurt, Paris or Barcelona.
The Duchess of Sussex (pictured), 44, was in Switzerland on Sunday for the World Health Organisation’s 79th World Health Assembly, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Place des Nations
Her visit came just two days before her eighth wedding anniversary with Prince Harry and to mark the occasion, the flight crew on her journey back to the States on Monday presented her with a sweet card (pictured) and gifts
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrating their wedding anniversary this week
Prince Harry has previously said that it is unsafe to bring his family to the UK unless he is given full-time armed police protection.
The official police protection which is funded by the public purse for all senior royals was taken away from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they decided to step down from their royal duties.
As a result, their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, four, have not seen their grandfather, the King, since February 2022 when they visited Britain as part of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Last year, Harry lost a legal bid to have his protection reconsidered, blaming the Royal Household in thinly veiled comments about him being the victim of ‘a good old fashioned establishment stitch up.’
Since Harry and Meghan’s departure from the UK in 2020, when the Metropolitan Police stopped providing security for the couple, they have been responsible for their own security which would include round the clock security at their estate in Montecito, California, and security for visits overseas.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Duchess told PEOPLE magazine: ‘Meghan’s flight crew was so lovely on her way back from Geneva.
‘They all came to say happy anniversary and shared their memories of where they were on the day. They wrote Harry and Meghan a card and gave them a bottle of champagne and British candies for Harry and the kids.
‘It was very special and so appreciated by Meghan, who wanted to publicly thank them. She was truly so touched.’
Marking eight years since the big day, the Duke of Sussex served his wife a recreation of their wedding cake
Meghan marked her eighth wedding anniversary by sharing a collection of previously unseen photographs from her big day on Instagram.
‘Eight years ago today…’, she captioned the two posts, with one showing a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first dance at their evening reception at Frogmore House, where they shared a passionate kiss in some of the pictures.
The second post revealed snaps from Meghan and Harry’s nuptials at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which were watched by an estimated 1.9 billion people and attended by A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey, Sir David Beckham and George Clooney.
However, it was Sir Elton John, who performed at their special day, and Isabel May, British PR executive and a close, long-time confidante of Meghan’s, who featured in the photographs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the rift between the Sussexes and the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Royal Family – apart from a glimpse at the back of King Charles after he had walked his daughter-in-law down the aisle – were nowhere to be seen in the wedding photos.
Instead, the only guest that Harry was pictured hugging was Isabel, whilst Meghan could be seen chatting with her mother, Doria Ragland, who was partly out of the frame.
The carousel of snaps from the ceremony included the newlyweds sharing a sweet moment after their nuptials together, as well as behind-the-scenes photographs of the couple having their official wedding portrait taken.
There were also images of Harry making a toast while the duchess, dressed in a bespoke gown by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller, proudly looked on.
Further celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary, Meghan later shared a sweet video of Harry delivering a cake and gifting her a penguin statue.
In a story on Instagram, the Duchess showed her husband singing ‘happy anniversary’ in their kitchen and handing her a lemon elderflower sweet treat – inspired by their wedding cake – with four candles placed on top.
The couple’s children, Archie and Lilibet, could be heard excitedly singing in the background. The Duke, dressed in grey tracksuit bottoms and a blue polo shirt, helped blow out the candles, before Meghan told him ‘I love you’.
Meghan also revealed that Harry gifted her a statue showing two penguins arm-in-arm to mark their special day. The present is a nod to when they wore penguin costumes at their engagement party.
The former actress could be heard screeching as she unwrapped the unique gift while Harry laughed in the background. ‘Oh my God,’ Meghan said, before reading a card written by the Duke and addressed to ‘the one and only’.
The card read: ‘When momma and poppa got engaged we had a party with all of our friends and we said everyone had to wear an animal onesie and we were penguins.’
Reacting to the note, Meghan gushed: ‘We were penguins because we are together for life.’
She also posted online a picture of the couple kissing in their kitchen while grabbing the cake, before showcasing a selfie from their engagement party where they dressed in the penguin onesies.
