Final week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went to Canada. Technically, you possibly can’t describe it as a royal go to—in any case, the 2 sensationally stop the British royal household in 2020 and burned their proverbial London bridge together with it. In March 2021, they gave a tell-all interview to Oprah. In December 2022, they aired a revealing six-part documentary on Netflix. And in January 2023, Prince Harry printed his bombshell memoir, Spare. (In it, he alleges Queen Camilla leaked tales in opposition to him to the press and that his brother, Prince William, bodily assaulted him.)

But, their latest Canadian journey felt paying homage to their official state excursions once they had been nonetheless Windsors. Whereas visiting Vancouver and Whistler to advertise the 2025 Invictus Video games—the sporting occasion for wounded veterans based by Prince Harry in 2014—the couple made a number of appearances within the span of some days. They visited the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, a First Nations museum. They went curling with Michael Bublé. And, on their closing night, they attended a dinner at Vancouver Conference Middle. (Harry wore a swimsuit, whereas Meghan wore an olive inexperienced Greta Constantine gown.)

They even talked briefly to the press: on February 16, Good Morning America aired an unique interview with Prince Harry. In it, he spoke for the primary time publicly about visiting his father after his most cancers prognosis. “I really like my household,” he mentioned. “The truth that I used to be in a position to get on a airplane and go and see him and spend any time with him—I’m grateful for that.” The remark led to a collection of splashy headlines from the tabloid press. Nonetheless, all through the remainder of the week, the go to went on with none of the drama the Sussexes have been extra just lately related to. The 2 smiled and chatted all through their appearances. Prince Harry even made an impassioned speech on the Vancouver dinner occasion: “When I’m with the Invictus group surrounded by so many courageous women and men who’ve served their international locations with distinction, I really feel humbled and at residence,” he mentioned.

The sleek, polished journey got here amid a roiling information cycle. On February 16, the Instances of London reported that the Duke of Sussex was prepared to tackle a brief position throughout the royal household as a consequence of his father’s sickness and the Princess of Wales’s latest surgical procedure. “The duke is now understood to have informed mates that he would step right into a royal position whereas his father is unwell,” the outlet wrote. Additionally they attributed an nameless quote to a royal insider: “On all sensible ranges it makes good sense for the household to return collectively to assist the King whereas he’s sick. A lot has been mentioned on either side in recent times, however that has by no means diminished the basic bond of blood, and there are actually pragmatic facets to think about, with the King and Kate’s wellbeing paramount on this,” they mentioned. “The small print of the Clarence Home assembly and subsequent conversations are personal, however the feeling is that this association might work.” Certainly, Canada actually confirmed the 2 nonetheless know make profitable public appearances for a trigger. It’s simple to overlook that earlier than all of the noise, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had been good at their jobs as working royals. (Their 2018 tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji was thought of a powerful success.)