Nottingham crowd gets strange instruction minutes before Harry, Meghan arrive

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle received a surprisingly warm welcome by the Nottingham crowd as they marked their first official engagement after UK return.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly touched by the outpouring of love they recived by the fans gathered to greet them on Thursday.

However, as the couple rejoice in their successful first outing, a royal correspondent revealed the ground reality of how the arrival had panned out with one odd detail sticking out.

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There were journalists and social media reporters present at the venue capturing the moment, and HELLO!’s royal correspondent, Eleanor Dye, a unexpected instruction that was given out to the crowd by the charity hosting the Sussexes.

During a discussion between Royal Editor Emily Nash and Editorial Director Andrea Caamano, Emily noted that Harry and Meghan do have a “dedicated following” but that would not apply to every location in the UK.

She explained that Nottingham has a long-standing connection but the reaction felt like it had been set up. To that, Andrea detailed Eleanor’s account of the day’s events.

“Well yes, our Online Royal Correspondent Dye was there,” Andrea said.

“At the second engagement she did say to us that people from the charity, not related obviously to Harry and Megan, did come out before they arrived and told the crowds, ‘Make sure you cheer very loudly when they come out’ and ‘You can say, Meghan, I love you’, which I thought is strange.”

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They pondered if the charity had been “worried” after seeing the big crowd but doesn’t make it any less unusual.

Emily said that she has “never really seen that happen” except for school children being told to behave, nor “just before a member of the royal family arrives”.