Just like a working royal! Meghan hands gifted flowers to her aide

While Meghan Markle and Prince Harry insist their Australia trip is private, the Duchess of Sussex is clearly still adept at using tricks she learned as a working royal.

Meghan was spotted skillfully handing floral gifts to an aide while walking through a children’s hospital today.

It came shortly before she told Australians to ignore her title and ‘call me Meg’ amid tensions over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s pseudo-royal tour Down Under. 

Hours after landing in Melbourne, Meghan was handed an orchid and a flower by young cancer patients while she and Harry spoke to them for several minutes about their care and treatment.

As the couple walked on towards the Adolescent Oncology and Rehabilitation ward, the thoughtful gifts were swiftly handed to one of the Sussexes’ aides.

Amid shouts of ‘Meghan’ from the crowds, the duchess smiled as she carefully passed the items to her staff without breaking her stride. 

The protocol of quickly moving on flowers and gifts was perfected by Queen Elizabeth II and has long been used by working royals to keep their hands free for handshakes. 

But others have suggested that the incident was ‘awkward’ and another sign the Australia trip is royal in all but name. 

One eagle-eyed viewer shared the clip and said: ‘Did Meghan really hand a gift to her handler like she’s a royal?’

Another replied on social media: ‘Yes she did. This is being loosely referred to as a Royal Tour. This is what they want’. A third wrote: ‘She really did’.

Meghan famously had her first royal engagement with Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in Widnes, Cheshire. 

The two women appeared to enjoy each other’s company, sharing a joke and laughing repeatedly.

Meghan said recently that she still reminisces about ‘how special that felt’, adding: ‘I feel fortunate’.

As well as receiving guidance from the late Queen, Prince Harry also helped his wife with learning protocol. Royal aides also offered her support on how to interact with the public on royal walkabouts.

But in 2020 Harry and Meghan decided to step back from their royal duties and move to the United States. 

Prince Harry and Meghan said they were delighted to be back in Australia as they landed in Melbourne today on a business class flight from Los Angeles without Lilibet and Archie.

Today the Sussexes looked thrilled as they received cheers and applause on a trip to a children’s hospital to meet cancer patients.

The Sussexes’ own aides reassured people waiting for them at Melbourne’s children’s hospital that the couple are laid back about how they are addressed, declaring: ‘Harry and Meghan is fine. They’re pretty relaxed.’

Harry and Meghan looked thrilled as they received cheers and applause on a trip to meet young cancer patients in Australia’s second city.

They spent almost 45 minutes chatting to children and their parents in the atrium and on a ward.

Meghan then went solo as she served frittata at a women’s refuge wearing £1,100 heart earrings, Princess Diana’s Cartier watch and a Tiffany gold bracelet before the couple reunited for a family craft session at the National Veterans Arts Museum. 

As they arrived, Australia’s first poet laureate for veterans, Steve Cotterill, asked them: ‘How would you like me to address you?’

Harry shrugged with a smile and said: ‘However you like’ before his wife said: ‘Call me Meg?’

The couple spoke to children and posed for photographs outside the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne amid surprise from locals. 

One parent, Pina Roberts, told the Daily Mail: ‘I just came here and was like, what is going on?’ Anything that acknowledges us (patients and parents at the hospital) is good thing.

‘But I didn’t even know they were coming, so I would wonder why they are actually here.’

Four-year-old patient Lily held up a hand-drawn sign that said: ‘Welcome Harry and Meghan’. She presented a flower to the duchess as they arrived.

Meghan hugged Lily after being presented with the gifts and told her: ‘Oh my gosh, this is so sweet. I love it.’

After being shown Lily’s sign, Harry said: ‘Nice to meet you, Lily. That’s beautiful. How long did it take?’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took part in a garden therapy session with patients at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, smelling plants and flowers.

Asked if he would like to take some gumtree home, Harry, wearing a navy jacket, white shirt and metal bracelets, joked: ‘I would, but I think I’d probably get arrested at some point.’

Meghan then went solo as she served frittata at a women’s refuge before the couple reunited for a family craft session at the National Veterans Arts Museum. 

Harry was asked if he had a message for Australia and said: ‘It’s wonderful. It’s great to be back. Thanks for having us back’.

The centre provides round-the-clock crisis accommodation, refuge services and longer-term housing, alongside programmes focused on recovery, wellbeing and independence. 

Meghan, wearing a Karen Gee navy sleeveless dress, asked the patients: ‘Do you find that different stories and memories come out that you weren’t expecting?’

The couple visited wards at the hospital and met patients with eating disorders.

Following the Royal Children’s Hospital visit, the Duchess of Sussex visited a women’s refuge in Melbourne.

Meghan donned an apron and served frittata to people at the centre, run by McAuley Community Services for Women, which supports women and children experiencing family violence, homelessness and related challenges.

After serving several people, the duchess asked ‘is anyone else hungry?’, while looking and smiling at the press and other people gathered in the centre.

Meghan then sat down at a table and joined people eating food, telling them: ‘We landed here this morning so my jet lag hasn’t quite hit yet.’