Keeping up with the Sussexes: The day I met Meghan Markle
Editor’s note: The team at Yahoo Canada met Kiwi royal fan Rachel via our all-royals podcast, Make It Reign. Earlier this week, she sent us this photo of the Duchess of Sussex via Twitter. We needed details! The following is her up-close-and-personal account of the Sussexes stop in Wellington, New Zealand.
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So, I have to set the scene here. I’m like a normal, sane (OK, slightly cooler than average) 40-something-year old woman.
I have a lovely husband, two kids, loads of friends and a good job. But… I have a secret. I am a huge fan of all things royal. Like, massive. Well, not all things royal, mainly the fab four and the Queen and all the little kids, oh! And that really hot Swedish Prince, Carl Phillip. Google him (but that’s a whole other story).
When I heard from Kensington Palace via a tweet that Harry and Meghan were headed down under to tour Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, planning went into overdrive.
Days off work were arranged, and my sister, Melissa and friend, Jo, were ready and waiting to be my accomplices. We are all huge fans of the royals and have a message group set up especially to discuss the important matters – what Kate wore, what Meghan wore, do they like each other and when will we next see Baby Louis?! (For goodness sake, a six month photo wouldn’t go amiss!?)
And we still love Princess Diana. We were living in London when she died, and last year of the 20th anniversary of her death, we had a high tea with all our ex London friends to remember her. We got out all our scrapbooks and books from when we were kids and drank a lot of champagne. This is the level of dedication, people.
So to hear Harry and his freshly minted gorgeous wife was coming to town was beyond exciting.
This is what it’s like to keep up with the Sussexes for a whirlwind 24 hours.
Sunday, Oct. 28
12 p.m. – Wardrobe planning: Now Wellington, New Zealand, is an amazing city to live in. It’s known as “the coolest little capital in the world” and often voted one of the best cities to live. It’s also well known for its indecisive weather — it can be super windy and has very patchy weather, especially at this time of year, but “you can’t beat it on a good day” (you can Google that too). It has the best coffee you’ll find anywhere, great craft beer, “Lord of the Rings” was made here and… everyone wears black. It’s like the city is full of people terrified to wear colour. So the first part of the planning was wearing the brightest colours we could find to stand out in the crowd. Tick.
2 p.m. – Celebratory drink and important floral choices: Well we couldn’t let Meg and Haz come to town and not celebrate with a glass of champagne, right? Just one thing to keep in mind: we’re not amateurs here – you can’t be in the middle of a stakeout with a full bladder. Nil liquid by mouth after 2.30 p.m.! Jo popped across the road to the market after a big discussion around what colour flowers we needed. Yellow was decided. Perfect for our bright theme – yellow flowers, my hot pink and navy ensemble, Jo’s navy blue and emerald green and Mel’s teal top and plum jacket. Like little bright jewels in sea of black and washed out grey.
ALSO SEE: Meghan Markle dresses down for rainy day in New Zealand
2:30 p.m. – Finding the right walkabout spot: OK, this was a bit stressful. We got down to the square, Harry and Meghan were due to arrive at 4:45 p.m. The crowd was building and the front railing spaces all seemed taken. But we were not mucking around, we are professionals! We spotted a space big enough for one person so claimed it, and slowly but surely wedged all three of us in. Most people were still sitting and everyone was chatting and very excited. The lovely girls next to us had been there since midday and talked to security – we were right where their car was due to pull up. We’d be able to see them get out and greet the dignitaries — but there was a mixed opinion as to whether we’d get to be in the walkabout. The security guard had said “only if there is time.” We did a quick survey of the other side where the walkabout was going to start, but it was already getting a few people deep, so we decided to take the chance.
3:30 p.m. – Just over an hour til they arrive: The crowd continued to grow and the atmosphere was humming. People were starting to bank up behind us, and we could sense they wanted to wedge into our spot — but sorry haters, no chance. We were still sitting but they were standing. Some dude in an orange jacket said “excuse me, can I go there?” pointing to the prime spot at the front of the railing where our feet and handbags were. We threw our heads back and laughed in a hysterical “ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?!” kind of way, and he backed off.
4:15 p.m. – Dignitaries and media arrive: The crowd started getting very excited when some fancy cars pulled up. Literally no one in Wellington has ever been excited to see the mayor before, but he got a big whoop when he turned up (but not from me, I’m still mad he’s made us pay for parking in the city on the weekends). The British high commissioner arrived looking A.MAZ.ING in a bright blue dress. We see she got our memo on colour. She got a loud whoop too.
It was time to stand up and claim our front row position. Orange jacket guy was at least two layers back by now.
The media buses turned up and the crowd knew things were close, because they had all been covering the government house welcoming and were now setting up position on the media stand. Now, because I take my royal fan duties seriously, I follow many of the British royal reporters on Twitter so knew lots of the faces. They were even more surprised when we started calling out their names and got a few of them to stop by. The crowd around us went quiet as they tried to earwig on the conversations we were having #SuddenlyTheCoolestPeopleInTheCrowd
4: 45 p.m. – The arrival of the Sussexes: The crowds had been steadily growing over the last few hours and at this point it was well over a thousand people. We were 10 deep and everyone was excited. The weather had decided to play ball and the sun was out! The mood was super buzzy and we all had that butterfly feeling in our tummies where you know something amazing is going to happen and you want it to hurry up but you don’t want it to end? That feeling. Then the royal convoy rounded the corner. The crowd started going hysterical! They pulled up and then… a MASSIVE black van pulled up in front of us totally obstructing our view.
“Whaaaaaaat?!” Oh boy, talk about 2,000 people being outraged all at once. We started chanting “Move the van, move the van” (not very original and totally ineffective as it turns out, these security people were not frightened of us). Meanwhile, Haz and Megs were greeting the officials and started moving up the stairs – hooray! We could see them up the stairs! They were teeny tiny and far away but we could see them! And they were holding hands! Just the cutest. And Meghan was wearing a trench coat designed by a local designer, Karen Walker! We love Karen Walker! We wear Karen Walker! Meghan’s just like us! Phones were out on their strongest zooms and we were all taking grainy blurry photos of the two. There was a lot of oohing and ahhing.
ALSO SEE: An etiquette expert says this habit of Meghan Markle’s is ‘unprofessional’
5:05 p.m. – The walkabout: With the official wreath-laying complete, which looked all very lovely when we re-watched on Twitter later, the beautiful people took off on their walkabout. Roars were heard from across the square as they reached new areas. We were all so happy for them, because we’re very mature adults, but secretly we knew Harry and Meghan would like us so much more so we started yelling at security guards to “get them to come around here, pleeeeassse.”
As the roars got closer we started getting our hopes up. A Kensington Palace official and New Zealand government official appeared and we started leaning over the barrier. “Bring them over hereeeeee!” we yelled. We waved our flowers. “We have flowers!!” (like, no one else had ever given them flowers, ever). When they singled out a lady with a dog and two little kids and got them across the barrier right in front of us, we knew we were in.
Harry rounded the corner and it was all on. Utter hysteria! He stood chatting to a group and someone in the crowd tossed a knitted buzzy bee at him (New Zealand gave his mum and dad a wooden buzzy bee when they visited in 1983 with baby William, so now it’s like “the” iconic kiwi baby gift to give). He caught it and gave a thumbs up. Then she appeared. OMG. We were all yelling and those yellow flowers were getting thrust out and waggled around. Then it happened. Meghan was in front of me, shaking my hand.
This woman is beyond gorgeous. Like, I didn’t think she could take a bad picture but those pictures do not do her justice. She is luminous. Her eyes are brown with amber flecks and her skin is perfect with her cute little freckles showing through. Talk about star quality. Teeth? Beautiful. Smile? Full and genuine. And when she shakes your hand she looks you in the eye and you know you are forever best friends now. She had the most gorgeous citrine and diamond drop earrings on that were glinting in the sun and we got a close up, real life look at that stunning engagement ring.
ALSO SEE: Meghan Markle just comforted a crying fan in New Zealand
I was like “I love your cookbook,” Jo was saying “ooooh, congratulations on your pregnancy!” Meghan said, “oh thank you, thank you very much.” Melissa meanwhile, who has had a bad cold, shook her hand and said “oh please sanitize your hands Meghan, I’ve got a bad cold.” Sigh. There’s always one. She took our flowers and looked at us like they were the best thing she’d ever seen. But I guess we are besties now and that’s how we look at each other.
They stopped to chat with the lady and her dog and the two cute little girls for a few minutes and then they were off. It all happened so quickly, but no one really wanted to leave. The Markle fairy dust had been sprinkled on us and we just wanted to relive the moment.
Monday, Oct. 29:
9 a.m. – Maranui Café, Lyall Bay – event 2: After a champagne debrief and a bad sleep (too excited to sleep properly) Jo and I headed to Lyall Bay for a last glimpse of Meghan and Harry. It was so strange to think they were going to a café that we had been in so often since our school days. I bet those floors had been washed, the windows sure had. There wasn’t going to be a walkabout but there was still a decent crowd and a great excited buzz in the air. The media were in place and Jo had arrived early to get a good spot.
10 a.m. – The second coming: The convoy arrived – Meghan and Harry leapt out and the crowd went crazy. A quick hand-in-hand stroll along to the café, a few waves and then inside for a chat with the young kids working in mental health (awesome cause, fantastic to see their support of it). They reappeared and had a quick chat with some young kids from a local school who had lined up to talk to them. Meghan popped back to the café to ask for the treats they hadn’t eaten to be given to them afterwards. So sweet!
10:45 a.m. – The departure: And then they were off, back in the car and a few more waves to the crowds through the blackened windows. Jo and I headed off to a café down the road for some brunch and a debrief because keeping up with the Sussexes is hungry work. The café backs onto the airport, and lo and behold we spot my BFF running across the tarmac with her gorgeous ginger husband and onto a helicopter! Off to the next engagement.
BYEEEEEEE MEGHAN, BYEEEEEEE HARRY!!! PLEASE COME BACK AGAIN SOON!!!
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