Meghan Sussex left Nottingham carrying several beautiful bouquets after well-wishers gathered to welcome her and Prince Harry back to the city. One particularly large arrangement soon attracted attention online, with critics questioning where it had come from. Sussex supporters had a straightforward answer: they had organised it themselves.

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“We’ve Got Your Back”

The message Meghan received in Nottingham was not limited to one supporter. People waiting outside the Community Recording Studio openly spoke about wanting Harry and Meghan to feel welcomed back. Amanda Geary, 54, told the BBC that if she had the chance to speak to them, she would say: “Don’t believe that you’re not liked because you are.”

Three 21-year-old friends, Nicole Taylor, Lisa Munjemu and Emily Davies, also came specifically to see the couple. Lisa told the BBC that Meghan had inspired them since they were teenagers, particularly because of “the way she holds herself high even when it might seem to be difficult.”

Those comments help explain the atmosphere captured in photographs and video. People brought flowers, called out to the couple and waited for photographs and handshakes. The BBC estimated that a couple of hundred people had gathered outside CRS, while its reporters described excited chatter and schoolchildren lining up alongside members of the public.

Meghan continued through the crowd carrying several large bouquets. Among those flowers was an arrangement Sussex supporters say they had organised specifically for her. The publicly stated message behind the gesture was simple: they wanted Meghan to know she had their support.

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The Flowers Came From the Global Sussex Squad

BBC East Midlands captured one of Meghan’s large Nottingham bouquets on video. In the clip, a well-wisher tells her, “We just wanted to support you,” before handing her the flowers. Separately, the Sussex Community Events account said a supporter had presented Harry and Meghan with bouquets and gifts for their children on behalf of the Global Sussex Squad.

That confirmation matters because photographs of Meghan carrying the substantial arrangements had already prompted speculation online about where the flowers came from. The answer for at least one of those arrangements was straightforward: Sussex supporters in the UK and abroad had paid for it.

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Getty Images footage also captured Harry accepting a colourful gift bag as Meghan stood beside him holding the bouquets. So while critics were scrutinising the size and quality of Meghan’s bouquets and questioning where they came from, members of the Sussex community were openly explaining that they had simply wanted to welcome the family back with something special.

A Full-Circle Reunion From 2017

There was also a lovely reunion in the crowd. Ninety-year-old Irene Hardman brought along a framed photograph from the first time she met Harry and Meghan in Nottingham in 2017, during their first official joint appearance after announcing their engagement.

Meghan spotted the picture and immediately recognised the moment, saying, “This was our very first walkabout.” She hugged Irene, kissed her on the cheek, and Harry told the longtime royal supporter she looked “as young as ever.”

Irene has become known locally as the “Haribo Lady” after spending years bringing sweets for members of the Royal Family. Back in 2017, she also greeted Meghan with gifts and later described meeting her as “very emotional.”

Nearly nine years later, the photograph had become a little piece of Sussex history, and Nottingham gave them the chance to recreate it.

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The People in Nottingham Told Their Own Story

By the end of the visit, the debate over whether Harry and Meghan are still “relevant,” whether their appearances count as “working royal” engagements, or whether their schedules should avoid clashing with official royal events felt increasingly disconnected from what was happening on the ground.

The reception was not hostile or awkward. People called out to the couple, children gathered along the barriers to meet them, well-wishers brought flowers and supporters asked for hugs, photographs and handshakes.

That does not mean every person in Britain suddenly supports Harry and Meghan. It does mean the reality was far more complicated than years of coverage suggesting they had become deeply unpopular or unwelcome in Britain.

The media presence made that even harder to ignore. Senior royal reporters were in Nottingham covering the same couple Buckingham Palace has recently emphasised are private citizens outside the working monarchy. Roya Nikkhah was there for The Times. Matt Wilkinson was there for The Sun.

They were there because the visit was international news. Before any headline appeared, the images told their own story: Meghan left carrying armfuls of flowers, Harry stopped to speak with children and families, and supporters made it clear they were happy to see them back.

Whatever interpretation followed afterwards, that welcome had already happened in full view of everyone watching.

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