Heartwarming new photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s surprise visit to the family of a woman killed in the Uvalde school shooting have been shared by the late teacher’s nephew in a touching birthday tribute to his mother.
Irma Garcia courageously sacrificed her own life during the May 2022 mass shooting at Texas’ Robb Elementary School in an effort to allow her young students to get to safety. Then, just two days later, her husband Joe tragically died of a heart attack.
Last weekend Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, paid a surprise visit to Irma’s sister at her home – delivering a cake and flowers before singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in honor of her special day.
Now, her son, John Martinezhas shared several new photos from the Sussexes’ visit to her home – one of which captures the heartwarming moment Meghan pulled her mum into a big hug.
Heartwarming new photos capture the sweet moment Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a surprise visit to the family of a woman killed in the Uvalde school shooting
The pictures, shared by heroic teacher Irma Garcia’s nephew, show Meghan, 42, warmly embracing the late educator’s sister as she marks her birthday
“My mom wanted me to post these as her birthday pictures,” her son, John Martinez, 22, wrote as she shared the photos on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The first of the photos showed Meghan and John’s mother posing together at a local event held to honor the victims of the shooting, while another taken inside his home shows Meghan and Harry standing with the birthday girl.
In the photo, John’s mother can be seen proudly posing with a large bouquet of roses delivered to her by the Sussexes, while Meghan holds up a white frosted birthday cake with several strawberries.
Meanwhile, Harry, looking casual in a blue sweater and dark gray jeans, stands with his arm around John’s mother.
The new pictures come just days after John first shared a glimpse of the surprise Sussex visit – revealing a heartwarming video of the moment Meghan and Harry sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to his mum inside the family kitchen.
Meghan was seen holding a candle-lit cake for John’s mum before turning to Harry to check he’s still there and calling him ‘my love’.
John, 22, shared the first pictures and videos of the royals’ visit to his house on X, expressing his surprise at how ‘loving and supportive’ the Sussexes had been to his family.
He said that bringing Harry and Meghan into their home ‘felt like having family and friends over’ and that they fit ‘right in’.
Meghan was also seen posing with Irma’s sister at a local event held to honor the victims of the May 2022 mass shooting
Earlier this week, pictures were released showing Harry and Meghan with the mother of Layla Salazar, who was tragically killed in the Uvalde shooting
The Sussexes were seen embracing families at the local event to support the families of the shooting victims
John explained that the couple surprised his mum with a cake – as videos showed a glowing Meghan smiling warmly as she held the white dessert.
She and Harry – who were standing in the kitchen among their family – led the singing as they joined the heartwarming scene.
Meghan lit the candles on the cake and began the countdown to singing happy birthday, before saying “with everyone singing too”, to which a family member replied “It’s you first and then we’ll follow!”
The actress looked in high spirits as she held the decorated gate, with her husband Prince Harry smiling in the background.
And as they shared ‘intimate memories’, John said they shared ‘tears of joy’ with the Montecito couple.
“Meghan Markle singing happy birthday to my mom was the sweetest, most adorable thing ever, she even bought her a cake,” Ms Garcia’s grateful nephew wrote.
In a speech to HELLO! added John: “It really meant the world to Harry and Meghan turning up to visit the family, there were lots of tears of joy and heartfelt moments.
‘They were the kindest, most humble people ever, it was like having family and friends over, having a great time together.
‘They fit right in, we laughed a lot and shared intimate memories together.’
The latest pictures were shared by Irma’s nephew, John Martinez, who praised Harry and Meghan for their ‘love and support’
Prince Harry and Meghan timed their visit to coincide with John’s mother’s birthday, and the couple even gave her a birthday cake
John explained that the couple had ‘stayed in touch’ with the Garcia family regularly since the senseless shooting.
“They keep in touch every other month, sometimes a bit longer, but with their busy lives, the visits really felt more special,” he said.
On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed after a gunman walked into Robb Elementary School in Texas and began shooting.
One of the 10-year-olds wanted to be a lawyer, and another wanted to be a marine biologist.
A third student had saved money to go to Disney World. But they never got the chance to go along for the ride.
Meghan visited Uvalde just two days after the shooting, offering her condolences and placing a bouquet of white roses tied with a purple ribbon on the cross of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia.
A spokesman for the Sussexes told the outlet that Meghan went there unannounced to offer her condolences privately at the time.
After the visit, the Duchess is understood to have gone to the Herby Ham Activity Center and delivered boxes of food and drink to blood donors.
Harry and Meghan’s trip to Texas – which also coincided with the Duchess of Sussex’s headlining appearance at the SXSW festival in Austin on Friday – came just days before the former Suits star announced a new lifestyle venture on Instagram.
The mother-of-two announced the launch of her new company, called American Riviera Orchard, on Instagram on Thursday – at the same time as she launched her new website.
The Duchess of Sussex has announced the launch of her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, for which she has trademarked a range of products from jams to cookbooks
While little was revealed about the brand on its website and social media account, an insider told the Daily Mail that American Riviera Orchard will be a ‘lifestyle and cooking brand’, centered around her passions.
The new lifestyle website and brand launch comes seven years after Meghan closed her popular blog The Tig – which she ran while starring in hit legal drama Suits.
Meghan used the website to document her travels, favorite foods, fashion recommendations and even featured guest posts from her celebrity friends.
But shortly after Meghan and Harry went public with their relationship, the Duchess shut down the website.
Although her latest launch is already being referred to as ‘The Tig 2.0’, American Riviera Orchard will actually extend well beyond the realm of a lifestyle blog, with trademark application documents for the company revealing Meghan’s plans to publish a wide range of products and books.
Documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal the Duchess has applied for trademarks on everything from ‘edible oils and fats’ to jellies, jams, spreads, nut butters, cookware and books.
Brand expert Hayley Knight told DailyMail.com that Meghan is likely to make six figures within weeks of the official launch of her brand.
“We’ve seen in the past that everything Meghan wears, promotes and sells sells out instantly, and there are websites dedicated to ‘What Meghan wears’ that showcase her brand power,” Knight said.
She added that Meghan had ‘incredibly strong’ instincts when it comes to PR and marketing and ‘wouldn’t have launched this if she didn’t think it would work’.