At their first joint public appearance since returning to the United Kingdom, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex — now 45 — appeared without the engagement ring Prince Harry had given her, a piece of jewellery that photographers have not captured her wearing across roughly the past nine months.
The pair chose Nottingham as the location for their first joint walkabout as an engaged couple, a visit that took place following their 2017 announcement. Her outfit centred on a £1,500 cashmere coat paired with burgundy heels from Jennifer Chamandi, a London-based label whose footwear carries a price tag of around £650, while jewellery was kept to a minimum — the £120,000 diamond ring with which Harry had proposed was not among the pieces she wore.
No public appearance by the Duchess with that particular piece of jewellery has been recorded since an NBA fixture in California in February 2026. Anchoring the look around a deep-red Joseph coat, she paired the outfit with a wedding band and a gem-studded fitness tracker that has appeared on her wrist with notable regularity. Alongside the Oura ring tucked within a bespoke, diamond-set gold sleeve crafted by Logan Hollowell, a separate gold band of undisclosed origin sat on her right hand.
Among the accessories she wore for the occasion was a Cartier Tank Française timepiece — valued at £17,800 ($24,020) — that had belonged to Princess Diana and passed to her following her marriage to the Duke of Sussex.
For the 2017 engagement, a ring was created by Cleave and Company — jewellers who had long served the late Queen Elizabeth II — with Harry commissioning a piece tailored specifically for Meghan. To ensure the ring would fit her finger, he had quietly borrowed one from her collection beforehand, and when commissioning the design he requested that stones from a bracelet belonging to his late mother Diana be incorporated into the piece.
Four modifications to the ring are understood to have taken place in the years following the engagement at Nottingham Cottage. At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in June 2019, observers noted that the band on Meghan's ring had been narrowed from its original width, with small diamonds running along the sides — a piece jewellery specialist Arabel Lebrusan put at roughly £126,000 ($150,000) and characterised as reflecting a style more common in American jewellery traditions.
According to the book Finding Freedom, the 2019 alteration of the engagement ring — which involved adding a new diamond band and resizing the piece — was attributed by author Omid Scobie to a choice made by Harry. Within the biography, jeweller Lorraine Schwartz described the prince as someone she found to be genuinely warm and generous in nature.
Speculation arose in 2022 that the ring had been modified when Meghan wore it at the Invictus Games in The Hague, with observers noting what appeared to be extra diamonds placed around the central stone. On several occasions throughout 2023, the piece of jewellery was not visible in public appearances, with a loose stone said to be undergoing repair work at the time.
By 2025, the stone at the centre of the ring had drawn commentary from those who followed such details closely, with a number of people pointing out that its profile — as glimpsed in a trailer for Meghan's Netflix series, which was later pulled — appeared to bear a closer resemblance to an emerald cut than to the cushion cut the piece had originally featured.
Around 100 members of the public gathered to greet Harry and Meghan on their first joint appearance together since the pair returned to the UK, with the Duchess accepting flowers and balloons from well-wishers and expressing that she was glad to be back. During their first joint public outing in the United Kingdom since the 2022 Queen's funeral, Harry was observed putting his arm around her on several occasions as the two stopped to take selfies and exchange words with onlookers.
Emily Davis, a 21-year-old who had brought along a bunch of yellow flowers, described handing them to Meghan before the two briefly clasped hands. "Meeting you has been something I've long hoped for," Davis told them. "It's an honour," she said, adding that the experience had left a strong impression on her. Davis also recounted handing Meghan a card that she folded and tucked into her pocket to read at a later time, adding that her written message described Meghan as a source of personal inspiration.
Trevor Rose, the Community Recording Studio's chief executive, met Harry and Meghan at the entrance before the pair made their way inside. Three charitable stops formed the itinerary for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, with the Community Recording Studio serving as the opening venue, where Meghan joined an acting workshop already underway.
Their stop at the Himmah food bank brought them into contact with two other organisations working in the area — the Hubb Community Kitchen and Epic Partners, which runs sports mentoring programmes for children between the ages of four and 18. Founded in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower blaze that killed 72 people in June 2017, Hubb has drawn sustained attention and involvement from Meghan over the years. A foreword for the 2018 cookbook, Together, carried her name on its opening pages.
Nine years after the pair had last been in Nottingham, a source connected to the visit pointed to a thread of meaning running through their return, while acknowledging that the city they encountered now bore little resemblance to the one they had left behind. According to a source connected to the Sussex household, her public appearances are expected to be infrequent.
A number of scripts are currently under consideration by Meghan. Charitable work is scheduled for whatever time remains on her calendar once those other commitments are fulfilled. Her role does not fall within the category of full-time official duties carried out by the royal family, and no private secretary shapes her daily timetable.
Those close to Meghan describe her as balancing the demands of motherhood with running a business, with plans to bring her brand As Ever to the UK market before the end of the year. Prince Harry's attention has largely gone toward philanthropic endeavours, with the Invictus Games sitting at the centre of that work, whereas Meghan has directed her energy toward building commercial ventures and exploring a possible return to the screen.
An unnamed source conveyed to a broadcaster that Harry's contributions centre on charitable endeavours and work in the public interest. Those close to Meghan describe her as keeping family at the centre of her priorities, with her business ventures and a potential return to acting following behind.
Meghan has recently released an advent calendar, partnered with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, and directed a full day's revenue from jam and tea sold through her California-based brand As Ever toward the Malala Fund — Yousafzai's charitable organisation — to mark the International Day of the Girl on 11 October. The Duchess joined Yousafzai in releasing a statement that described investing in girls today as the foundation for building capable, independent women in the years ahead.
Marking International Day of the Girl, Meghan announced through her social media platform that Archewell Philanthropies would direct the full net proceeds from As Ever jams and teas toward Malala Fund, an organisation working to expand free, safe, and quality schooling for girls worldwide, with Meghan noting that educational access underpins the broader goal.
