Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were criticised for going on a “cosplay” royal walkabout during their first day of joint engagements on British soil since their return to the UK. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were welcomed to the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in St Ann’s, Nottingham, with all the fanfare, for a run of three quasi-royal public appearances in the city on Thursday.
The couple set up home back in England in August in a dramatic U-turn six years after quitting the working monarchy for a new life in the US. But despite stepping down as senior working royals, Thursday’s visit resembled those of working royals extremely well and fans and royal watchers took notice.
During their first engagement, the Sussexes made a beeline for the crowds of well-wishers, just like a traditional royal walkabout – smiling, shaking hands, giving hugs and taking selfies with the members of the public for 20 minutes. They got mobbed by fans who wanted to see them as they departed.
Now various well-respected figures within the royal community have criticised Thursday’s appearance of “royal cosplay”. The Telegraph’s royal editor Hannah Furness said that the Sussexes are back to what they said they don’t want.
She said: Harry and Meghan are back to Nottingham “back to hand-picked charity visits they still call ‘engagements’, and back to walkabouts. Back to accepting flowers, inviting the press to cover them, and doling out hugs to anyone in the vicinity.
“Back to the life they said they did not want, except this time with none of the boring bits, or the duty that being a working royal entails.”