Meghan Markle has been seen for the first time since Prince Harry rushed to join his cancer-stricken father, King Charles.
The Duchess of Sussex flashed a smile as she drove near her $14 million home in Montecito.
Meghan looked relaxed behind the wheel of her Range Rover wearing a baseball cap and oversized dark sunglasses, sipping from a cup of coffee as she drove.
Her appearance on Wednesday was the first time she was photographed publicly since Prince Harry flew to London to visit his ailing father.
The Prince embarked on a trip to see King Charles following the monarch’s shocking cancer diagnosis. It is understood Harry spent just 45 minutes visiting his father and Queen Camilla before returning.
Charles was said to be unhappy at being left ‘kicking on his heels’ waiting for Harry to arrive while delaying his trip to Sandringham ‘in search of ‘peace and quiet’.
Meghan Markle was all smiles as she drove near her $14 million home in Montecito on Wednesday.
The duchess was out and about while she waited for her husband, Prince Harry, to return from London, where he was visiting his cancer-stricken father, King Charles.
The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, photographed in the Windsor Suite at London Heathrow Airport on his way back to the United States after seeing his father.
After reuniting with his son, King Charles left Clarence House with Queen Camilla yesterday
Harry’s visit did not include a meeting with his brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, or his wife, Kate Middleton, who is recovering from surgery. Both Meghan and Harry have been out of royal life since the couple left their royal roles.
The duke, 39, arrived at Heathrow shortly before 2pm and returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.
She traveled without her two young children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two.
The father and son had a “brief reunion” before the King and Camilla were driven to Buckingham Palace, where a helicopter was waiting to take them back to Sandringham.
Notably absent from the meeting was his brother, Prince William, with no signs that tensions between the two have eased since Harry and Meghan decided to step away from their main royal duties in 2020.
‘William has shown today that he has disowned Harry, doesn’t want to meet him and probably doesn’t even like him anymore. Harry is just not part of his life,” royal expert Jennie Bond told DailyMail.com.
“That rift is so deep now, and this has been shown by the fact that Harry is here and they haven’t met, so deep that I really wonder if it can ever be repaired.”
William, in addition to dealing with his father’s health issue, is also caring for his wife, Kate, as she recovers from abdominal surgery..
The duchess sported a relaxed look in a cap and sunglasses, keeping one hand on the steering wheel as she sipped a cup of coffee.
It is believed that Prince Harry was due to return to Los Angeles around 6:30 pm local time.
The King is taking a step back from his royal duties as he undergoes treatment for an unspecified cancer. Harry’s brief visit to Charles did not include a meeting with his estranged brother, Prince William.
Expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggested that the fact that Prince Harry made the trip shows hope for reconciliation.
He told MailOnline: ‘The whole situation has changed with cancer. The fact that the King has been diagnosed with something that millions know is life-threatening has changed the entire relationship between the Royal Family and the Sussexes.
‘The only way a family can fight cancer is by coming together.
‘Much has been made of the length of Harry’s visit and how quickly he left, but that’s not the point. The fact is that Harry came and Charles shared the diagnosis with him. What he wanted was to express his support, it is a completely new situation.
The meeting between Harry and Charles was their first formal in-person meeting since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022. The prince attended Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey in May last year, but did not attend. saw interacting with the newly crowned King and Queen.
Buckingham Palace announced Monday that the king was receiving treatment for an unspecified cancer.
Doctors discovered the cancer while treating the monarch for an enlarged prostate just over a week earlier, according to the Palace.
He returned to his Sandringham estate to recover after treatment and arrived in the royal helicopter at around 4.20pm.
Harry is believed to have stayed in a luxury hotel while in the UK, having technically become homeless since his eviction from Frogmore Cottage last year.
It is understood Meghan was at home with the couple’s children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, while Harry was in the UK.
Harry’s visit to his father only lasted about 45 minutes according to reports.
The quick visit did not include a meeting with his brother, Prince William, as the rift between the two since Harry stepped away from royal duties is still open.
Since Harry was in London, Meghan was thought to be at her home in Montecito with her children while virtually all of Southern California was under flash flood watches and warnings.
The historic Pineapple Express weather system dumped a record amount of rain on parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and rocks down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes.
The storm is causing chaos in several regions, including Beverly Hills, Malibu and the Sussexes’ Montecito neighborhood.
Harry and Meghan, George Clooney, Lady Gaga and Halle Berry are among the celebrities whose multimillion-dollar mansions are threatened by the severe storms.
The Sussexes’ $14.65 million Montecito mansion was under a “flood watch” for 28 hours while the surrounding county, Santa Barbara, was inundated with inches of rain on Monday.