The Duchess of Sussex has been reunited with four women from the Grenfell Tower community during a charity visit to Nottingham with the Duke of Sussex.
The couple, who settled back in England in August, visited the Himmah Hub in Nottingham as part of a day of engagements, their first joint public appearance since returning to the UK.
In the charity’s kitchen, Meghan was reunited with four women she greeted warmly as her ‘ladies’, embracing each of them in turn. The group had not seen each other for at least five years.
When the Duke joined them, one of the women told the couple how much they had been missed.
The Duchess has a longstanding connection with the Grenfell community. She wrote the foreword to Together, a cookbook of recipes published in 2018 by the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen. The book raised nearly £800,000 to support their work at the Al-Manaar mosque in north Kensington.
During the Nottingham visit, the couple put on aprons and helped prepare a chicken tagine in the charity’s kitchen before packing food parcels for its food bank.
There were light-hearted moments as they worked, with the Duke joking about the best way to pack biscuits without crushing them.
As they left, the Duchess described the reunion as ‘really, really meaningful’, while the Duke said it was wonderful to be back in Nottingham.
The couple also visited the Community Recording Studio, where the Duchess met 90-year-old Irene Hardman. Ms Hardman showed them a framed photograph of the couple’s first joint public appearance in Nottingham, which the Duchess said was their very first walkabout. Ms Hardman told her she remembered them.
Inside the studio, the Duchess took part in a confidence-building and bracelet-making workshop with a group of girls, telling them she feels most like herself when with her family and when cooking, which she loves.
When one of the girls mentioned she enjoyed gymnastics, the Duchess said her own daughter was doing the same and loving it.
The day of engagements ended with a visit to Epic Partners, another Nottingham-based charity.
The visit highlighted the couple’s continued support for community projects. The Hubb Community Kitchen was formed by women affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Duchess’s involvement with the cookbook helped shine a light on their efforts to support families in north Kensington.
The Together cookbook, published in 2018, brought together recipes from women of different backgrounds and cultures, celebrating the diversity of the north Kensington community. Its success provided vital funds for the Hubb Community Kitchen’s work.
Community initiatives continue to thrive across the capital. A talking newspaper has marked 50 years of keeping Barking and Dagenham connected, around 150 people rallied to save the Beckenham Odeon cinema, and a Kingston man has urged the public not to hesitate with CPR.
For the women of the Grenfell community, the reunion was an emotional moment, reflecting a relationship built over several years. The Duchess first met the Hubb Community Kitchen cooks in the months after the fire and has remained in contact with them since.
The Himmah Hub in Nottingham provides a range of community services, and the royal visit shone a spotlight on the work of local charities supporting vulnerable people.
The reunion underscored the enduring nature of the relationships formed through the cookbook project. The women of the Hubb Community Kitchen have continued their work in north Kensington, and the Duchess’s early support helped bring national attention to their efforts.
Charity visits of this kind shine a light on grassroots organisations. The Himmah Hub, the Community Recording Studio and Epic Partners all provide vital services to their local communities in Nottingham, and the royal visit recognised the dedication of their staff and volunteers.
The Nottingham engagements were a significant moment in the couple’s return to public life in the UK, coming two months after they settled back in England.
