Meghan’s secret visits to Grenfell survivors
FIRST it was her boys who donned Princess Diana’s mantle as consoling royals who throw tradition aside to show an emotional side.
Then the Duchess of Cambridge added glamour to the touchy-feely younger generation of royals.
Now it appears Meghan Markle is also emulating William, Harry and Kate – with secret charity visits to those who have faced personal trauma and disaster.
The American actress has made morale-boosting visits to survivors devastated by last summer’s Grenfell Tower tragedy.
She is understood to have been several times to the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in west London – just a mile from the tower where 71 died in the inferno in June.
The organisation was one of the first to coordinate relief effort for victims, with volunteers distributing food, clothing and other equipment.
It also assisted with funeral services for victims, while helping the community recover from the psychological effects of the disaster.
Miss Markle, 36, who will marry Prince Harry on May 19, made the low-key visits joined by a protection officer and another aide – but without her fiance.
Although Miss Markle kept her visits quiet, those who saw her told how they had been touched by her decision to come and meet them.
One leading Grenfell community member told the Daily Mirror: ‘Meghan’s visits mean so much to us. She has a special place in our hearts.’
The visits, described as private, come after her husband-to-be also visited the centre with his brother in September.
Then, Harry, 33, and William, 35, saw its prayer hall and met some of its spiritual leaders.
Chief executive Abdulrahman Sayed said there have been ‘three or four’ royal visits since the two brothers had come to see them but would not reveal further details.
Miss Markle’s decision to visit causes close to her heart under a shroud of secrecy mirror the behaviour of the princes’ late mother, Diana, who would leave Kensington Palace in the middle of the night to speak to the homeless and visit shelters. A source said: ‘Meghan has regularly been making private visits to organisations as she gets to know the UK charity sector.’
Revelations that Miss Markle had gone to lend her support to those affected by the Grenfell blaze came as the royal couple visited Scotland for the first time together yesterday.
In a glimpse of their closeness, Harry also made a reference to her music taste.
During a visit to Social Bite, a cafe which distributes 100,000 items of food and hot drinks to homeless people across Scotland each year, shop manager Mimi Guery joked that the social enterprise only recruited people who would play good music.
Prince Harry replied: ‘I can vouch for that. She does have good tunes.’
The prince also aired his views about people being glued to their phones. He told the group: ‘Everyone can be so focused on the wrong things, looking at your phone or work, but look up, lift your head up and look around you.
‘Walk around your city, see how many people are on the streets and do something to help them.’
Praising their work, Prince Harry added: ‘I long for the moment that the values and principles you have shown in setting this up are no longer exceptional.
‘It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are doing, everyone can give back’.
Miss Markle added: ‘It means a lot for us to be here, it’s my first time in Scotland.’
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, one male well-wisher went straight to the point, telling the actress: ‘Don’t marry Harry, marry me’.
The day finished off at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the pair met the First Minister during a reception to celebrate the achievements of young people in Edinburgh.
Among those performing, a band called Impact Arts who made a tongue-in-cheek pitch to play at the couple’s wedding this Spring.
Band member Darren Telford said: ‘What we said was that a little birdie had told us that Ed Sheeran was going to be playing an upcoming wedding and if he couldn’t make it we are free if they wanted.’
The group then went on to perform a rendition of the pop star’s song Perfect. ‘ They just looked speechless. Meghan looked like she was going to cry,’ Edinburgh College student Ciara MacDonald, 17, one of the singers, said.
‘Do something to help them’