Meghan Markle has been spotted dining with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in her first London outing since the Sussex family’s return to the United Kingdom.
The Duchess of Sussex, 45, and the Pakistani education activist, 29, shared a table at Claridge’s, the five-star Mayfair hotel, where they were photographed deep in conversation across from one another. A TikTok video posted Wednesday by user @losrodriguez.mx captured the pair in the background as a nearby group raised wine glasses in a toast, with the uploader writing, “POV: Claridge’s decided to seat Meghan Markle and Malala in front of you.”
Markle dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt for the evening, while Yousafzai wore a beige coat. The dinner marks the first time the duchess has been seen in London since she, Prince Harry, 42, and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet moved back to the UK at the end of August.
The Sussexes’ relocation across the Atlantic was reported as motivated by a desire to be closer to Harry’s father, King Charles III, who is currently battling cancer, and to help their children build relationships with royal family members. Since arriving, Markle has been photographed on several outings.
Last month, the former “Suits” actress met with Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi at a pub near Burford in Oxfordshire. Just last week, she and Harry were seen holding hands while arriving at a Cotswolds pub for lunch.
The connection between Markle and Yousafzai dates back to 2020, when the two participated in a virtual conversation hosted by the Malala Fund. The discussion focused on the International Day of the Girl, obstacles to girls’ education, and how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting students around the world.
Following that exchange, Yousafzai took to Twitter to express her alignment with the duchess’s views on education access. “Meghan and I are on the same page: we both believe that when girls have access to education, everyone wins,” she wrote.
In a follow-up tweet, Yousafzai extended her thanks to both Sussexes for participating in the conversation. “Thank you so much to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex for sitting down with me to have an important conversation about the future of our world. ♥️,” she added.
The 2020 virtual meeting represented a rare public intersection of Markle’s royal platform with Yousafzai’s longstanding activism, which began after she survived a Taliban assassination attempt at age 15 and went on to become the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Their recent in-person dinner suggests the relationship has continued in the years since that initial conversation.
The Sussex family continues to settle into their renewed life in Britain, with Markle gradually reappearing in public settings both alongside her husband and independently.