Hundreds of royal fans stood for over two hours in the stifling heat hoping to take a selfie with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Düsseldorf Town Hall in Germany on Tuesday. Hordes of Germans and Brits queued alongside metal barriers while waving Union Jacks as the couple arrived for the Invictus Games 2023 One Year To Go event.
Most attendees seemed like genuine fans as they donned paper masks of the Queen and royal regalia as they attempted to usher the couple over for a quick picture and a chat. Pictured: A young woman taking a selfie with Meghan on Tuesday.
Other attendees admitted they were attracted by the circus that follows the pair, with one young woman saying she found them ‘rude to the Royal Family ‘ but wanted to see them because they are ‘like soap stars’.
Among the crowds were former serviceman Bob Clark and his wife, Lily, who were dressed for the occasion. Clark wore an ermine robe, crown and a mask of the Queen covering his face. His wife clutched a bag celebrating the marriage of Harry and Meghan and wore a Union Jack coat and hat.
The couple traveled from their home in Duisburg to show their support for the royal family, even though California-based Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the so called ‘firm’ after stepping down as senior royals in January 2020, in a move dubbed Megxit.
Bob said: ‘We are both huge fans of the Queen and the royal family. It will be great to see Harry and Meghan.’ Pictured: Meghan shakes hand with a young woman as she chatted to fans outside Dusseldorf Town Hall.
The Duchess of Sussex also took selfies with Invictus athletes during the One Year To Go event.
Pictured: Another selfie Meghan took with an Invictus athlete in Dusseldorf on Tuesday.
More than 500 people stood behind metal barriers outside the entrance to the town hall to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.
Some had taken their place at the front three hours before the planned arrival of the couple.
Here, Prince Harry is pictured full of joy as he strokes a small dog while taking selfies with fans outside the hall.
Meghan posed for selfies while sporting a low bun hairstyle and simple diamond studded earrings.
Elisa, 24, said: ‘I know they have been rude about the royal family, but I have read so much about them I wanted to see them myself.’
And Elisa’s friend Melina, 26, said: ‘They have become a soap opera, but I find anything about the Queen and royal family interesting.’ Pictured: Meghan held flowers she was gifted as she chatted with fans.
Locally hired security teams were out in force around the red carpet leading to the town hall. Only two uniformed police officers were visible prior to the couple’s arrival.
Meghan, wearing a $282 (£245) cream knitted vest from trendy LA label Anine Bing and matching trousers, and Harry, in a grey suit, flew into Germany this morning, where police closed junctions and set up miles of roadblocks so they and their entourage, including a personal doctor, could avoid traffic jams.
The pair are meeting officials and potential competitors in the city on Tuesday.
Later, the couple will be taken by boat along the Rhine River from the reception to the Merkur Spiel-Arena for a press conference at which Harry will deliver remarks.
Pictured: Harry waves to the adoring crowds as he and Meghan made their way down the red carpet.
City officials insisted the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is private, and they will be protected by their own security team with the couple footing the bill. And since the visit is private, there was no police motorcycle outriders and accompanying police cars would not turn on their flashing blue lights.
Meghan kept her look simple and chic in the sweltering sun.
The couple happily waved to the crowds.
Prince Harry looked to be explaining something when the royal couple arrived at the end of the red carpet.
Harry wore a grey suit with an open neck shirt and held Meghan’s hand as they walked towards an Invictus banner outside the town hall entrance.
Attendees shouted out the Prince’s name, and he seemed to find the adulation amusing.
Meghan beamed as a woman in the crowd shouted ‘you’re beautiful’ and scores of people cheered.
The royal couple’s arrival had been delayed by 10 minutes due to the volume of traffic coming into the city center.
A team of seven burly bodyguards stood behind the couple as they smiled and posed for pictures, and former US secret service agent Christopher Sanchez, now the couple’s personal bodyguard, stood watch over the couple. He had been by their side during the Invictus Games in The Hague earlier this year.
Harry and Meghan were met on the red carpet by Düsseldorf mayor Stephan Keller (second from the left) and senior members of the German military. On Thursday, the couple will attend the WellChild Awards, which celebrates the bravery of young people from across the UK who have coped with a serious illness or disability.
A source with the city of Dusseldorf told Mail Online: ‘Of course this is a private visit, but we do not want anything to go wrong or there to be any incident. We are showcasing the city. They will have their own security teams, but the police area being consulted and will be involved.’
The couple are in town to start the countdown to the Invictus Games, which will be held in Dusseldorf next September. The source continued: ‘We are hosts for the Invictus Games and we want everything to run very smoothly. There have been lots of consultations and plans have changed, but we are confident it will be a trouble-free visit.’
After speeches from Harry and the mayor at town hall, the couple will sign what is known as the ‘Golden Book’. The oversized leather-bound volume is signed by all visiting dignitaries to Dusseldorf, the capital of the Rhine-Westphalia region.
The page assigned to the couple has already been prepared with their names in red Roman cursive writing. Harry is billed as’ Prinz Harry Herzog von Sussex’ while his wife is ‘Meghan, Herzogin von Sussex’ – translated as Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry is described as the patron of the Invictus Games. Pictured: The couple meeting a military mascot named Loki.
Although there is a balcony in the book signing room that overlooks the market square, the couple will not be stepping out to wave to crowds gathered below. ‘That would not be appropriate,’ said a city official. Harry and Meghan are set to return to London Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, a grinning Meghan Markle left Windsor on Day 2 of their pseudo-royal tour of the UK and Europe as the Sussexes head to Germany.
Harry was also smiling as they left, protected by two former Met Police officers now working for the Sussexes.
The couple’s appearance came after Meghan’s speech on Monday night during the Opening Ceremony of the One Young World Summit 2022. The speech, which had been touted as a speech about gender equality, saw Meghan make only one anecdote about women. Instead, she gushed about Prince Harry and the ‘life-changing’ impact of becoming a mother and told the event it was ‘very nice to be back in the UK’.
At one point, she spoke of her pride at being a ‘mum’ and appeared emotional when the audience applauded. She then spoke of how her life had ‘changed significantly’ – a reference that may have been related to Archie, the Royal Family and Megxit.
Meghan also told the audience, made up of young delegates from more than 190 countries, that they are ‘the future, but also the present, driving the positive and necessary change needed across the globe.’ Pictured: Harry and Meghan at Manchester Train Station on their return to London on Monday night.
She questioned how she became successful, referring to herself as ‘the girl from Suits’ who was eventually ‘invited to pull up a seat at the table’ with powerful leaders, prime minsters, humanitarians and activists. And spoke about the first time she was asked to be a counsellor and having a ‘pinch me moment’. ‘I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it’, she said, adding it was ‘Just proof: proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn’t sure that I belonged.’ Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said Meghan’s speech ‘was just ‘me, me, me’ and praising herself.’
Meghan referenced herself 54 times in the seven-minute speech, a body language analyst revealed on Twitter. Despite having been selected to discuss gender equality, Meghan only made one brief anecdote about a woman other than herself. The Duchess of Sussex said that the first year she joined One Young World in Dublin, she worked with a young woman from Eritrea. ‘She had escaped her home country, fleeing with bullets fired above her head. I still remember it so well,’ she said. ‘I remember my shock, and I also remember her courage, my recognition of how much continues to go on each day with so many turning a blind eye. And yet despite all odds, she like so many still persevered.’
Royal experts criticized Meghan after the speech for delivering an address that ‘lacked content’ and was riddled with confusing and insincere commentary. ‘I can’t visualize or comprehend how the 2,000 young people understood a word of what she was talking about,’ Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told The Sun. ‘It made no sense. It was all about her and related everything to herself. I don’t think she knew what she was talking about. It was just ‘me, me, me’ and praising herself.’
Meghan and Harry had been given a warm welcome. But minutes earlier, as the couple climbed out of their car, many in a 100- strong crowd booed from behind a barrier just yards away, with onlookers saying it was so loud ‘there was no doubt they would have heard’. One protester was carrying a sign that read: ‘FO Harry and Me-Gain Fake Royals’ (pictured). A woman who gave her name as Janet, from Manchester, accused Meghan of being a ‘liar and a hypocrite’ and of launching an ‘attack’ on the Royal Family. ‘She’s a fake humanitarian and a fake feminist,’ she said. ‘She’s a social climber… she thought she could be a celebrity in the Royal Family and she’s the most toxic, divisive woman I’ve ever heard of in my life.’
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