Meghan Markle and Prince Harry donned hair nets and facemasks as they volunteered alongside former gang members at a Los Angeles bakery.
The Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, who are currently living in Tyler Perry’s $18 million mansion in Los Angeles having stepped back from royal duties in March, visited the Homeboy Industries cafe and bakery yesterday.
It comes after it was revealed the couple could make more than £1million per speaking engagement with an elite agency used by Michelle and Barack Obama.
New York-based Harry Walker describes itself as ‘the world’s leading speaker’s bureau’ and counts Prince Harry’s environmentalist friend Jane Goodall and Oprah Winfrey among the A-list talent on its roster.
Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, joined former gang members at a bakery in Los Angeles to volunteer and make food for the elderly in the area (pictured, at their final royal duty in March)
PR expert Mark Borkowski told The Sun the pair will ‘clean up’. They plan to speak on social issues including racial justice, gender equality, the environment and mental health, according to the LA Times.
‘I’m surprised they haven’t done this sooner. It will be one of the great income generators for them. The speaker’s circuit is a natural safe space for them to plunder,’ he added.
It is their first career move since leaving the royal family and moving to Los Angeles.
On Tuesday the couple appeared low-key in photographs shared of the visit to the bakery, as they helped prepare food and learn more about the organisation’s programme.
The Duchess of Sussex, who had previously taken part in workshops with the organisation as a teenager, could be seen packing food boxes
The bakery shared snaps of the pair’s visit on Instagram, posting: ‘Thank you to Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for visiting and standing in kinship with our Café and Bakery teams yesterday!
‘Our staff were thrilled to work alongside them as they helped prepare food and learned more about our newly launched #FeedHOPE program, which employs our program participants to provide meals to food-insecure seniors and youth across Los Angeles in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.’
Meghan donned a smart white shirt and relaxed denim jeans for the volunteering effort, sweeping her hair into a low bun to tuck into her net.
Meanwhile Prince Harry opted to match his wife in a similar smart white shirt as he joined her on the production line.
The couple could be seen helping out to bake bread, as well as folding dough and sorting out food boxes for the vulnerable in their new hometown.
According to Harper Bazaar’s royal editor Omid Scobie, it is run by Father Gregory Boyle, who the Duke and Duchess have been speaking with about the racial justice movement.
The Duke and Duchess donned facemasks and hairnets as they joined the production line at the bakery
Meghan first met Father Boyle 20 years ago at a Homeboy Industry cooking workshop where she and her mother Doria made tamales.
Meghan Markle’s visits to baking workshop for disadvantaged women
Following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Homeboy Industries cafe and bakery yesterday, Meghan suggested it was similar to the Luminary Bakery in London.
The social enterprise trains UK-based women who have been victims of violence and sex trafficking.
Meghan featured the project when she guest-edited an issue of British Vogue, and she posed for a series of photographs with women at the bakery in 2019.
Luminary Bakery (pictured) is an all-female social enterprise bakery which helps women who have been victims of violence and sex trafficking, or who have been to prison, get back into work
Father Boyle, who has worked closely with Meghan’s alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were just “Harry and Meghan” to the homies.
‘They rolled up their sleeves and deeply engaged with our workers in the bakery and cafe. It was immediate kinship and heartening in its mutuality.’
Harry and Meghan’s spokesman said ‘the duchess mentioned that the spirit and style reminded her of the times she visited the Luminary Bakery in London’, a social enterprise that offers disadvantaged women in the UK new opportunities.
Mariana Enriquez, manager at Homegirl Cafe, said: ‘It was remarkable to share our Feed Hope programme with Harry and Meghan.
‘They are both down to earth and kind. The staff was honoured they took the time to see us, hear us and walk on our journey today. We will never forget it.’
A representative of the couple said the Duke and Duchess ‘connect deeply’ with the organisation’s mission (which includes resources such as counselling, education, legal assistance, addiction recovery and employment ops) and feel it’s ‘a perfect example of how empathy, kindness, and compassion can change the world.’
The organisation describes itself as ‘a beacon of hope in Los Angeles to brave men and women seeking to transform their lives after gang-involvement and incarceration.’
It provides support to nearly 9,000 individuals through job training and free services such as tattoo removal, mental health services, GED classes, legal services, and more.
It also helps provide space for our clients to heal from intergenerational cycles of violence in a community of radical compassion.
It is the third time the couple have been seen volunteering during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. In April, Meghan and Prince Harry were spotted out on the streets of LA as they continued their volunteering work for charity amid the crisis.
The Duchess had previously taken part in cooking workshops with the organisation when she was a teenager alongside her mother Doria (pictured, with the Prince Harry at the launch of the Hubb cookbook in 2019)
The couple were seen linking arms and holding hands as they delivered packages to residents from the back of their $35,000 Cadillac XT5, having seemingly downgraded from the Porsche SUV they had used previously.
It emerged that the couple, who moved to Los Angeles with 11-month-old son Archie a month ago, have been distributing meals to the needy in LA for the Project Angel Food charity.
A source close to the couple told the Daily Mail that they had hoped to keep their volunteering private but were glad the charity was being recognised.
The Sussexes initially moved to Canada after stepping down as senior working royals on March 31 but are now forging out new lives for themselves as they set up home in California.
The news comes days after a friend of Meghan’s told DailyMail.com that her instinct to leave the United Kingdom and move to California all makes sense to her now, because she believes she was ‘destined’ to help fight systemic racism in the United States.
The Duchess feels that her ‘gnawing urgency to uproot from England’ was fate so she could be at the ‘forefront’ of the movement, the insider explained.
it comes after sources revealed that the Duchess of Sussex feels ‘destined’ to help fight systemic racism in the United States (pictured, the royal recently spoke out about Black Lives Matter)
They added: ‘Meghan said her work as a leader is more important than ever right now and that she’s been speaking with Oprah and other community leaders on how she can be part of the solution.
‘Meghan feels like her mission goes far beyond acting. She said she wants to use her voice for change and hasn’t ruled out a career in politics.’
Meghan, who quit her royal duties with husband Prince Harry earlier this year and relocated to LA in March, recently distanced herself from best friend Jessica Mulroney after she threatened to sue a black influencer over a dispute.
It came as the United States has been rocked by protests across the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African-Americans who have died at the hands of police, sparking national conversations about racism.
Meghan spoke out about Floyd’s death earlier this month, declaring ‘black lives matter’ and admitted she hadn’t made a statement earlier because she had been ‘nervous’.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sign to a high-profile speaking agency that represents the Obamas and Clintons who can earn up to £1million per speech
by Harriet Johnston for MailOnline
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could earn more than £1million each time they do a speech after signing up with an elite speaking agency.
The Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, have joined the New York-based Harry Walker Agency which represents high-profile stars including the Obamas and the Clintons.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told The Sun the pair will ‘clean up’. They plan to be available for talks on social issues including racial justice, gender equality, the environment and mental health, according to the LA Times.
‘I’m surprised they haven’t done this sooner. It will be one of the great income generators for them. The speaker’s circuit is a natural safe space for them to plunder,’ he added.
It is their first career move since leaving the royal family and moving to Los Angeles.
It has previously been reported that the Queen’s grandson and his wife want to model themselves on the Obamas, and would set up a similar working model to the former president.
Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, have signed up with the Harry Walker Agency, a high-profile speaking agency, according to the LA Times
The Harry Walker Agency has high profile clients, many of whom are friends of the Duke and Duchess, including Prince Harry’s environmentalist friend Jane Goodall and Oprah Winfrey.
Others include Meghan’s best friend Serena Williams and the actor Tyler Perry – whose $18million (£15million) Beverly Hills mansion they are living in.
Speaking could prove an extremely lucrative booking for the Duke and Duchess, who vowed to become financially independent from the royal family when they stepped back in January.
According to their hometown newspaper, President Obama reportedly earned £1million for a speech in 2017, while the Clintons averaged $250,000 per appearance in 2014.
In January, it was reported that Barack and Michelle Obama had advised the Sussexes on their plans for a new life outside the Royal Family.
Other high flying clients signed to Harry Walker Agency include former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama
Harry and Meghan have become close friends with the former US president and his lawyer wife and turned to them for help after making the decision to step back from royal duty.
At the time, sources confirmed Harry and Meghan had discussed their plans with the former US president and his wife and wanted to mimic the way they had managed to build a successful, but dignified, life for themselves after the White House.
A source said: ‘They have found huge commercial success without actually looking like they are getting their hands dirty, to put it bluntly, and retaining their popularity.
‘In fact it is fair to say that their star has soared since leaving the White House, particularly Michelle’s, and this is something Meghan admires very, very much.’
Meanwhile the agency also boasts other clients including former US president Bill and Hillary Clinton
Meanwhile royal expert Omid Scobie also claimed the couple have big plans for the next few years, and are basing their working model on the Obamas.
He said their plans were ‘not too dissimilar’ from what the former president created after leaving the White House and setting up Higher Ground production company.
He pointed to the Obama’s multiyear production deal with Netflix to produce films and documentaries covering topics like race, class and civil rights.
Harry has been friends with the couple for years, bonding over humanitarian and military issues, as well as his inspirational Invictus Games for injured military personnel and veterans. They even took part in a video skit with the Queen to publicise it.
Grin: Mr Obama meets Meghan Markle at The White House in 2016. Harry and Meghan have become close friends with the former US president and his lawyer wife and turned to them for help
Meghan is also close friends with the former US first lady, and secretly attended a talk Mrs Obama gave in London in 2018.
Last summer the duchess interviewed the mother-of-two for her collaboration with British Vogue.
Meghan also wrote of how Mrs Obama had become ‘such a globally respected public figure’. She said: ‘Whatever your background, it’s easy to feel connected to Mrs Obama.
‘There’s something magical about the way in which she draws you in with her endearingly frank, down-to-Earth personality.’
Since leaving office Mr Obama, 58, and his wife, 55, have set up a charitable foundation that champions good causes including girls’ education and tackling youth violence.
They signed a joint book deal with Penguin Random House worth a reported £50million in 2017 and spent some of their new-found wealth on a luxury home in Martha’s Vineyard, off Cape Cod.
Meanwhile Prince Harry has also become good friends with Mr Obama over the last few years, and turned to them for help after making the decision to step back from royal duty
The news comes days after a friend told DailyMail.com Meghan’s instinct to leave the United Kingdom and move to California all makes sense to her now, because she believes she was ‘destined’ to help fight systemic racism in the United States.
The Duchess feels that her ‘gnawing urgency to uproot from England’ was fate so she could be at the ‘forefront’ of the movement, the insider explained.
They added: ‘Meghan said her work as a leader is more important than ever right now and that she’s been speaking with Oprah and other community leaders on how she can be part of the solution.
It comes days after it was revealed Meghan plans to use her platform to help fight systemetic racism in the United States. Earlier this month she spoke out on the death of George Flloyd amid on-going protests around the world
‘Meghan feels like her mission goes far beyond acting. She said she wants to use her voice for change and hasn’t ruled out a career in politics.’
Meghan, who quit her royal duties with husband Prince Harry earlier this year and relocated to LA in March, recently distanced herself from best friend Jessica Mulroney after she threatened to sue a black influencer over a dispute.
It came as the United States has been rocked by protests across the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African-Americans who have died at the hands of police, sparking national conversations about racism.