The Royal smiles
Meghan and Harry complete Dublin tour
THE World Cup wasn’t far from one English tourist’s mind as he made his way through Dublin yesterday – a visit that included a trip to GAA headquarters.
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chatted with President Michael D Higgins, before England’s defeat to Croatia the Duke of Sussex said he believed “football is coming home” .
Meanwhile, the Duchess again pleased Irish fashionistas by wearing green for the second day in a row.
She arrived in the Aras wearing a Roland Mouret dress in light olive with a fitted top and softly pleated skirt. After the official visitors’ book signing, Harry and Meghan’s spotlight was very nearly stolen by another audacious couple, Brod and Sioda, President Higgins’ loyal dogs.
The canine pair couldn’t resist bounding across the lawns to meet the royal highnesses and lick, rather than press, the flesh.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle then rubbed shoulders with GAA royalty as they called into Croke Park.
They paid a visit to GAA HQ, where 14 people were killed by British forces on Bloody Sunday in 1920.
Having worn a grey Roland Mouret dress in the morning, Meghan into a chic black Givenchy trouser suit for her trip to Croker, accessorised with black Manolo Blahnik stilettos.
Galway’s hurling sharp shooter Joe Canning, who Prince Harry described as “a bit of a God”, and Donegal football star Michael Murphy joined the VIP pair on the pitch to show off some of their sporting skills along with Dublin football all-star Lyndsey Davey and Cork’s dual star Rena Buckley.
The royal couple were welcomed onto the iconic sporting ground by Tanaiste Simon Coveney, Sport Minister Brendan Griffin and top GAA officials including President John Horan and his wife Paula. Both Harry and Meghan were presented with hurls on the pitch as a gift.
While his father Prince Charles previously tried his hand at the sport during a royal visit last year, Harry turned down the chance to hit a sliotar in Croker.
Along with some of the GAA’S top talent, several young players from across the country gathered at the stadium to mingle for the royals.
After travelchanged ling back into the city centre for a tour of Trinity College, more than 500 members of the public gathered to catch a glimpse of Harry and Meghan. The royal couple shook hands and chatted to a beaming crowd after a visit to view the historical Book of Kells.
Harry took time out to talk about football with Katie Brady, eight, and her sevenyear-old brother Cormac from
Co Cavan. The youngsters were in Dublin for the day with their mother, Lorraine, and even though young Cormac was wearing a Cavan GAA jersey, he gave the right answer when asked by Harry who he’d be supporting in the big game, the World Cup semifinal between England and Croatia.
Cormac told the Mirror: “He asked did I like sport and I said yeah, then he asked me who I was supporting in the England match, and I said England. “He was really nice.”
The visit to the 425-year-old college was one of the centrepieces of the trip to Ireland this week, their first official one outside the UK since they got married earlier this year. The princess had changed her outfit from the grey dress she wore to meet President Higgins into a black trouser suit and white T-shirt while the prince had also changed and was wearing a light grey jacket, a darker grey pair of trousers and a pair of blue suede shoes.
There was laughter and smiles all along the line as the couple slowly made their way through the square.
After 15 minutes of solid handshakes they took the decision to split up with Harry moving to one end and Meghan looking after the other end.
Some 10 minutes later, the visit came to an end, the Royal couple shook hands with the Provost of Trinity College Dr Patrick Prendergast under the shadow of the Campanile and made their way to their waiting Range Rover and headed in the direction of the Famine memorial at CHQ.
As they newlyweds were shown around the memorial by sculptor Rowan Gillespie, who created the moving tribute, they were heckled by number of people from across the Liffey.
They shouted, “Up the Ra” and “Tiocfaidh ar la” as the pair discussed the memorial with Gillespie.
Mr Gillespie said of the visit: “I think they were more wrapped up in the story. He [Harry] said that we’re looking back at this as an event of the past but this is happening all around us today and we’re criticising people then for not doing anything at the time, while what we really should be doing is looking at what we’re not dealing with today and seeing where we should be focusing our attention today.
“I told them the stories behind each of the sculptures which they seemed to really focus on.”
The couple later walked across to the CHQ building were they met with young coders in the Dogpatch Labs and toured EPIC, the Irish emigration museum.
He asked me who I was supporting in the match and I said England
CORMAC BRADY DUBLIN YESTERDAY