'Wonderful to be back' Meghan hails trip to New York as Harry joins first US public outing
MEGHAN MARKLE and Prince Harry visited the One World Trade Center in New York today, marking their first joint public appearance in months.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visit One World Trade Centre
Meghan and Prince Harry were spotted arriving in a black SUV at 1.14pm BST (8.14am local time) at the skyscraper, opened in 2014 after the original World Trade Center Twin Towers were destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks. In their first joint appearance in months, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex held hands while smiling at several well-wishers waiting outside.
Meghan and Harry also waved to bystanders, many of whom appeared to be fans calling their names, before entering the building and reach the One World Observatory.
There, they met New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, his wife and writer Chirlane McCray and their son Dante de Blasio.
Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York State, was also present.
The reason for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's meeting with the two politicians has not been disclosed.
Much like the rest of the group at the gathering, Meghan and Harry donned face masks while inside the skyscraper but took them off to pose for pictures in front of several journalists and photographers in attendance.
For this visit, Meghan and Harry donned equally sombre outfits.
The Duchess wore an all-black ensemble including a jacket, polo neck, wide-legged trousers and heels and pulled up her hair in a signature bun - while the Duke was seen in a dark suit and tie with a white shirt.
During their visit to the observatory, Meghan expressed her happiness at being in New York.
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One reporter asked her: "Madam Duchess are you enjoying your visit to New York?"
To which Meghan replied: "It's wonderful to be back, thank you."
After leaving the observatory, Meghan and Harry also visited the memorial for the victims of the 2001 terror attack.
The Duchess, 40, spoke about her love for New York in a blog post dated 2014, published on her now-defunct website The Tig.
While this is the first-ever joint visit of the Sussexes in New York, the pair have been to the city before.
Most recently, Meghan was in New York in February 2019 as she attended a baby shower bash thrown for her by friends.
A few months later, she returned to the East Coast to cheer for her close friend Serena Williams at the 2019 US Open final.
Harry, 37, is believed to have last visited New York in 2013, as part of an official royal visit to the US.
Meghan and Harry travelled to the East Coast city from their home in California. They will also attend Global Citizens Live, an event taking place simultaneously in several cities including London, Rio and New York, on Saturday.
The Live aims will encourage G7 countries and the European Union to share at least one billion COVID-19 vaccines with developing countries.
It also supports calls for a waiver on COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property rights.
The campaign is also calling on Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna to share mRNA technology with the new World Health Organization-backed transfer hub based in South Africa.
Among A-listers performing on stages around the world there will be Jennifer Lopez, BTS and Ed Sheeran.
Meghan and Harry have been passionate advocates for vaccine equity as the best way to end the Covid pandemic throughout 2021.
In May alone, they became co-chair of VAX LIVE, another concert organised by Global Citizens, raised $3.5million for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and wrote an open letter to big pharmaceutical corporations to ask them to share COVID-19 vaccines with developing countries.