How Meghan Markle’s charity feels about Duchess of Sussex’s UK return

By Page Six | Created at 2026-09-04 14:45:41 | Updated at 2026-09-04 16:31:27 1 hour ago

Meghan Markle’s charity Smart Works is welcoming the Duchess of Sussex back with open arms amid her and Prince Harry’s move back to the UK.

A representative from the charity, which helps unemployed women gain skills to secure a job, told Hello! Magazine that they “are very excited to welcome the Duchess and her family back to the UK.” 

Smart Works is one of the four original public patronages she received after marrying Prince Harry in 2018 and becoming a working royal.

Meghan Markle’s charity Smart Works is “very excited” for the Duchess of Sussex’s move back to the UK. (Pictured: Markle during a visit to the charity in 2019.) AFP via Getty Images
A representative from the charity told Hello that they “are very excited to welcome the Duchess and her family back to the UK.”  AFP via Getty Images

Markle has stayed in the role following her and her husband’s decision to step back as senior members of the British royal family and their move to California in 2020.

Not everyone in the UK is as delighted for the couple’s return, however.

Page Six exclusively reported that some locals are “more wary than excited” about the prospect of their arrival.

The organization helps unemployed women gain skills to secure a job. Markle has been a patron since 2018. Getty Images
Even after she and husband Prince Harry stepped back from their royal duties in 2020, she remained in her role with the charity. Getty Images

Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told us that the “chattering class” of the North Cotswolds — where the two are reportedly house hunting — are “not overly excited.”

“The Cotswolds can be incredibly welcoming to high-profile people because there’s an unwritten agreement: ‘You don’t make a spectacle of yourself, and neither will we,” Schofield explained.

On Friday, Page Six reported that Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, plan to ignore the pair.

Not everyone is as delighted for the couple’s return to the UK. (Pictured: the couple at the 2018 Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.) Samir Hussein/WireImage
Many locals of the North Cotswolds, where the pair are reportedly moving, are “not overly excited” for their arrival. / SplashNews.com

“It makes no difference if Harry and Meghan are in Oxfordshire, California or Timbuktu,” William and Middleton’s friend recently told the Daily Mail. “William and Catherine will continue their lives of public service. They intend to lead by example.”

Last month, we exclusively reported that their move back to England was a “huge slap in the face” to the future king and created “serious risks for the monarchy.”

The Sussexes and the Waleses have been estranged since Harry famously dragged his family during his bombshell interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Netflix, as well as in his 2023 memoir, “Spare.”

Page Six exclusively reported that their shock move was a “huge slap in the face” to Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton (pictured in 2022). Getty Images
William and Middleton reportedly plan on ignoring their estranged family members as they start their life in England. Zak Hussein / BACKGRID

Additionally, the “Suits” actress accused members of the royal family of racism when the couple sat down with Winfrey in 2021.

Harry and Markle’s moved back to England last month with their kids Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, for an “extended period.”

The family reportedly flew privately from California and landed at Birmingham Airport around lunchtime on Aug. 26.

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