Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Thanksgiving plans revealed

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are fully settled into their California lifestyle and along with millions of Americans, they're set to celebrate Thanksgiving on 24 November.

Prince Harry and Meghan have fully immersed themselves into the community in Montecito with the family-of-four spotted trick-or-treating last month and attending a Fourth of July parade in the summer.

No doubt the Sussexes will mark the day with their two young children, Prince Archie, four, and two-year-old Princess Lilibet, along with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland.

"I think it's really special that Meghan is continuing the Thanksgiving tradition with her kids, who in fact, are American,"Justin Ravitz, Editorial Director for HELLO! U.S says. "And she's sharing that tradition with Prince Harry."

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California-born Meghan has always been a big fan of the holiday and used to share photos on her now-defunct Instagram account and lifestyle blog The Tig.

A renowned foodie, Meghan once showed off her culinary skills with a snap of her proudly standing next to a perfectly prepared turkey in 2016, when her relationship with Harry was a secret.

"Oh, that time I roasted a pretty perfect Thanksgiving turkey!" she captioned the photo. "The question is, can I do it again? The pressure is on!"

"The tradition is a meal with a big turkey and mashed potatoes, often there's a green bean casserole, sweet potato with marshmallows and bread rolls," Justin explains.

"Typically, a lot of people will bring a pumpkin or apple pie, or a side dish, if you're a guest at someone's Thanksgiving dinner.

"A lot of Americans prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas because there is no exchange of gifts. There's no religious affiliation, so it's a holiday that everyone can enjoy. You don't have to spend much money and you don't have to follow a particular religion."

Last year, Harry and Meghan helped to prepare a Thanksgiving lunch for over 300 women in Downtown Los Angeles through their Archewell Foundation.

And in 2021, the Duchess told Ellen DeGeneres how she loved to celebrate the annual US holiday, saying: "I love to cook, we'll be [at] home and just relax and sort of settle in. It's our second Thanksgiving [at] home [in] California, so it will be nice."

Justin says: "It's supposed to mark the "first Thanksgiving meal" that the Pilgrims had with Native Americans, which has since been debunked historically. It's an early origin story for America and it has to do with coming together - breaking bread together and eating together, expressing gratitude, expressing thanks for the bounty of food and for being together with friends and family and loved ones."

How Meghan Markle celebrated Thanksgiving before royal life

The Duchess would regularly share recipes on her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig and Thanksgiving was no different.

Her favourite dishes included oven roasted chicken breast with mushroom and leek gravy and side dishes of roasted acorn squash wedge salad and almond butter bites.

She also recalled her parents Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle's acts of kindness during the holidays, in a blog post for The Tig: "Both my parents came from little, so they made a choice to give a lot – buying turkeys for homeless shelters at Thanksgiving, delivering meals to patients in hospice care, donating any spare change in their pocket to those asking for it, and performing quiet acts of grace."

Just four days before announcing her engagement to Harry on 27 November 2017, Meghan reportedly squeezed in Thanksgiving celebrations with mum Doria.

On the eve of her first Thanksgiving as a member of the royal family in 2018, the Duchess cooked a meal with the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen in west London.

Check out HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast. In this week's episode, we talk royal romances and discover William and Kate's most difficult public engagement, and how they overcame it: