Meghan Markle has been photographed in Britain for the first time since returning to the UK with Prince Harry and their two children, enjoying a relaxed pub lunch with Hollywood star Ellen DeGeneres.
The Duchess of Sussex was seen at the Three Horseshoes near Burford, Oxfordshire, where she was joined by DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi.
According to Page Six, the group were seen chatting and laughing together during their visit to the English countryside.
An eyewitness told the outlet they heard Meghan saying goodbye to the celebrity couple as she prepared to leave.
Photographs show Meghan dressed casually in white trousers and a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up as she walked away from the pub.
The images provide the first publicly available photographs of Meghan since her return to Britain on August 26.
She had reportedly been seen previously at the luxury Soho Farmhouse retreat in the Cotswolds, but no photographs emerged from that reported sighting.
Harry and Meghan’s office has been approached for confirmation of the Oxfordshire outing.
Meghan Markle in a previously posted Instagram picture (Image: INSTAGRAM)
Meghan Markle did not join Prince Harry at the WellChild Awards (Image: Getty)
Meghan stays out of the spotlight
The pub appearance comes after Meghan spent several weeks largely away from public view following the Sussex family’s return to the UK.
She did not accompany Harry to the WellChild Awards at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on Monday night, where the Duke of Sussex attended the event alone.
Her lunch with DeGeneres now places her back in the public spotlight, coming at a particularly sensitive moment for the Royal Family.
A new book by Charles Spencer, Earl Spencer, has also reignited discussion about the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death and the treatment of her sons during one of the most painful periods in their lives.
Charles Spencer’s claims about Diana’s funeral
Old wounds have been reopened almost 30 years after Princess Diana died (Image: Getty)
In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published Tuesday, Earl Spencer recounts an alleged confrontation with the then-Prince Charles over plans for Prince William and Prince Harry to walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession in 1997.
William was 15 and Harry was 12 when Diana died in a car crash in Paris at the age of 36.
Spencer claims he argued that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to endure such an ordeal.
According to his account, Charles reacted angrily, allegedly telling him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
The earl also accuses Charles of displaying “contempt” toward Diana and claims he sounded “elated” following her death.
The allegations have been strongly disputed by Buckingham Palace.
Palace issues rare response
After extracts from the book emerged, Buckingham Palace issued an unusually direct response, addressing Spencer’s account of events.
The palace statement said: “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer has stood by his account.
Speaking to the BBC, he insisted that he was telling the truth and questioned the motivation behind the royal response.
“Is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed?” Spencer said.
The earl has also drawn comparisons between the treatment of Harry and Meghan by the press and the intense media scrutiny surrounding Diana.
He told the BBC that Diana had been “really brought low” by criticism and said he was saddened to see what he regarded as echoes of that treatment in the way Harry and Meghan are covered today.
Meghan’s appearance comes amid renewed royal scrutiny
Against that backdrop, Meghan’s quiet afternoon in Oxfordshire offered a markedly different picture from the controversy surrounding the Royal Family.
Rather than appearing at a major royal event, she was seen enjoying a private meal with two longtime Hollywood figures in the English countryside.
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