Meghan Markle's Upcoming First Solo Royal Engagement at the Oceania Exhibition Has a Sweet Significance

The fact we’ve all spent the morning refreshing Twitter for new photos can only mean one thing. Meghan Markle is set to make her first royal solo engagement (opens in new tab) today, after Kensington Palace confirmed that the Duchess of Sussex will appear at the Royal Academy Oceania Exhibition opening in London. Let’s not pretend that it’s not a a huge deal—the event will be her first time representing the royal family without husband Prince Harry (opens in new tab), or anyone else, to rely on.

But, as well as it being a kind of Duchess graduation ceremony for Meghan in her new life as royalty, the occasion also carries another sweet, extra special significance for her relationship. Today, September 25, also marks the one year anniversary since Meghan joined Harry at the Invictus Games (opens in new tab) in Toronto, where the world saw them in public together as a couple for the first time ever. Back in 2017, the future husband and wife had been quietly dating on the down low, but the Toronto outing (and Harry’s first meeting with Meghan’s mom, Doria (opens in new tab)) confirmed that things were serious. Two months later, the couple announced their engagement, and the rest is history.

It seems very fitting that exactly one year later from their first public, PDA-filled date (opens in new tab), Meghan will take her duties as Duchess of Sussex to the next level. Cute, and also kind of empowering.

Back to today, the exhibition also coincides perfectly with the upcoming royal tour for Harry and Meghan (opens in new tab). The visit to ‘Oceania’ will see Meghan experiencing art and history exhibits from regions including New Zealand, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and Australia, which she and The Duke of Sussex will visit in October. As a further throwback to their first public appearance as a couple, Meghan and Harry will return to the Invictus Games (opens in new tab) when the opening ceremony kicks off in Sydney next month.

If we could also celebrate the one year anniversary of ‘Meghan and Harry are official’ with an updated photo of the Prince kissing her on the head, that would also be much appreciated. Thanks!