Meghan Markle is spotted dining in Claridge’s with Malala Yousafzai in first London sighting since she and Harry moved back to UK

Meghan Markle has been spotted dining in Claridge’s with Malala Yousafzai in the first London sighting of her since she and Prince Harry moved back to the UK. 

The Duchess of Sussex, 45, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, 29, were seen having dinner together at the luxury hotel in Mayfair yesterday. 

The pair first joined forces in 2020 for a virtual discussion to mark International Day of the Girl, talking about the importance of girls’ education. 

Malala, originally from Pakistan but now living in Birmingham, was shot in the head aged 14 by the Taliban for speaking up about education for girls. 

She went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her activism fighting for girls’ rights, making her the youngest person to win the award. 

The pair’s outing yesterday marked Meghan’s first public sighting in London since she and Harry moved back to Britain with their two children, seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet, in August. 

Video taken by a diner at Claridge’s and posted on social media shows Meghan and Malala sat at a table in the corner of the luxury restaurant, with the Duchess facing the room and the activist sitting opposite. 

The diner captioned the post: ‘POV: Claridge’s decided to seat Meghan Markle and Malala in front of you.’ 

The Duchess looked elegant in a white turtle neck jumper, while Malala kept her tan-coloured jacket on for the meal. 

The pair’s chat in 2020 came during the Covid pandemic, with Harry also joining the virtual discussion on barriers to education for young women. 

Meghan said on the call: ‘When young girls have access to education, everyone wins, and everyone succeeds. It just opens the door for societal success at the highest level.

‘What I had realised very early on was that when women have a seat at the table, conversations in terms of policy change, conversations in terms of legislation and the dynamics of the community are all shifted. 

‘And when you have to see how you get a woman to embrace her voice, you have to start with where she is a young girl.’ 

Meanwhile, Harry said he had taken his access to education for granted. ‘We do take it for granted, and it is a privilege, but every single person, every single child, every single young person needs an education,’ he said. 

‘To know there’s over 130 million girls out of education right now, before the pandemic, and the numbers are only going to go up, it worries me, and it probably worries all of us, the effect that is going to have not just on the individual, but on the family, and community, for the country and the world at large.

‘I’m hugely grateful for the education I was lucky enough to have; at the time I certainly probably wasn’t as grateful, but looking back at it now, I’m very, very blessed with having such amazing options.’ 

Following their conversation, Malala said of the Duchess: ‘Meghan and I are on the same page: we both believe that when girls have access to education, everyone wins.’ 

The Sussexes unexpectedly moved back to the UK over the summer with their children, just in time for the start of the new school year. 

Harry and Meghan were previously photographed holding hands as they headed inside the Falkland Arms pub in the Cotswolds on October 2, marking their first public outing since their move from Montecito in California. 

Meghan has continued with her As Ever brand, announcing she is creating a festive range for her lifestyle business, As Ever, last week, when she opened pre-orders for a £112 chocolate advent calendar that is only available to buy in the US.

The calendar – ‘inspired by her Montecito home and garden’ – features a festive illustration of the £11million mansion she and Harry called home for six years.

A press release declared ‘every detail was considered with care, including countdown numbers hand-painted in Meghan’s own penmanship using edible gold lustre.’ 

Flavours include strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and orange marmalade, plus what is described as a ‘special chocolate finished with Meghan’s own flower sprinkles’.

However, one British vicar who politely criticised the product has been forced to lockdown his X account after being branded a ‘demon’ and a ‘disgrace to the cloth’ by supporters – known colloquially as the Sussex Squad.

The row began when Anglican priest and London university chaplain Reverend Daniel French suggested that people could instead buy a £6 Christian advent calendar that is almost 20 times cheaper and contains Fairtrade chocolate.

The alternative he recommended also raises money for a leprosy charity and comes with a ‘little booklet on the meaning of Christmas’, he told his followers.

But Rev French’s post sparked a backlash from members of the Sussex Squad, who branded him ‘satan spawn’ and ‘evil’, while claiming he had an ‘ugly heart for a so-called Christian’.

His Protestant colleague Father Chris Phillips – whose parish is in Benhilton, south-west London – backed the priest on X, prompting a fresh wave of angry responses, to which he replied that he had ‘encountered the Sussex Squad on here’, adding: ‘Wow.’

His defenders have said he has been ‘terrorised’ by ‘deranged trolls’ ever since, forcing him to lockdown his account. Trolls claimed he was a ‘coward’ for doing so.

Meghan’s advent calendar announcement came only days after Buckingham Palace shared their own advent calendars, which were almost £100 cheaper, with prices starting at £25.

Other products in Meghan’s ‘Holiday Collection’ include ‘botanical confection’ chocolates developed by Los Angeles brand Compartes as part of an ‘ongoing collaboration’ and ‘The Keepsake Double-Deck Parlour Card Set’ with the As Ever logo.

READ MORE: Meghan shares new footage of Lilibet and her American accent in promotional post for As Ever