Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan arrived Wednesday for their first visit to the ancient county of Sussex in southeast England, for a day of engagements and walkabouts that demonstrated their wild popularity in the seat of their royal title.
She wore a deep green Hugo Boss leather skirt paired with a black top and Armani tan blazer.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were scheduled to spend a day in Sussex, making five appearances including at the famous royal palace built by one of Harry's 18th-century royal predecessors.
They're also due to greet well-wishers at two walkabouts, one of the most popular ways for Brits to interact with their new American royal duchess. Harry and Meghan's day began with a walkabout in Chichester, in West Sussex, where were cheered by scores of fans.
Their first engagement will be a visit to Edes House in the heart of Chichester, where the American-born former Meghan Markle, 37, will get to see the rare Sussex copy of the American Declaration of Independence. It may be her first up-close-and-personal look at one of America's founding documents, and she had to go all the way to Sussex to see it.
This version, discovered by chance in 2015 in a Sussex records office, is one of only two contemporary handwritten ceremonial parchment copies (the other is in Washington's National Archives) of the 1776 document in which fed-up American colonists told Harry's ancestor, King George III, to get lost (See "Hamilton"). Somehow the manuscript ended up in Britain, possibly in the possession of the dukes of Richmond.
Edes House, built in 1696, is a Georgian mansion and an exquisite example of domestic architecture of the Baroque period, now the flagship building of the West Sussex County Council.
An exciting week next week - the Duke & Duchess of Sussex are coming to #Brighton & Hove! As part of their visit, they'll be touring the Royal Pavilion - including the newly restored Saloon. Read more about its transformation here:
The couple will then travel along the coast to Bognor Regis where they will open the University of Chichester's Engineering and Digital Technology Park, and from there to the seaside city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, where they will embark on another walkabout with the Royal Pavilion as photographers' dream backdrop.
Brighton is chilly Britain's version of a beach resort but it's best known for the Royal Pavilion, an exotic parfait of a palace and a former royal residence complete with India-style domes and minarets. Built starting in the mid-1780s by famed architect John Nash, it was designed as a seaside "health" retreat for the extravagant and spendthrift King George IV when he was still the Prince of Wales and suffered from gout.
Eventually, Brighton bought the Royal Pavilion from Queen Victoria (George IV's niece) and it became a major tourist destination attracting nearly a half-million visitors annually.
Harry and Meghan will tour several of the Pavilion's rooms, learning more about the building's history and the impact that it had on the social development of Brighton in the 18th century, according to Kensington Palace.
Next on the itinerary will be a walk to Survivors' Network, a charity that supports survivors of sexual violence and abuse in Sussex. They're scheduled to talk to service users, volunteers and staff.
Their final engagement of the day will be focused on their mental-health awareness campaign with a visit to the JOFF Youth Centre in the coastal town of Peacehaven. The center is a community hub that offers a range of positive activities, including a "chill out" area and music practice room.
As part of Takeover Challenge day, a national initiative that encourages organizations to put young people into real-life decision-making positions, they're scheduled to meet young people from youth groups across East Sussex to talk about their plans and priorities dealing with mental health and emotional well-being.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make their first official visit to Sussex on 3rd October.In West Sussex they will see the historic Sussex Declaration & open @chiuni Tech Park. In East Sussex they will visit the Royal Pavilion, @SurvivorsnetBtn & Peacehaven Youth Centre.
On the morning of Harry and Markle's wedding, on May 19 at Windsor Castle, his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as expected granted him a new title: HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and HRH Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Harry, 34, is not the first Duke of Sussex although it's been two centuries since the last one. But Meghan is the first woman ever to carry the title HRH Duchess of Sussex.
Sussex was formerly the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Sussex on the English Channel coast. The last royal to hold the title was Prince Augustus Frederick, the sixth son of George III, who got it in 1801.
Because he never married (at least not legally) nor sired legitimate children when he died in 1843, the title became extinct Until now.
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