Meghan Markle's final London hurrah: Duchess reveals secret visit as new life begins in Canada

The Duchess of Sussex kick-started her new life as an independent royal today by revealing her secret visit to a London animal welfare charity.

The Sussex Royal Instagram account posted pictures of Meghan at The Mayhew centre in Kensal Green.

It is understood she made the visit earlier this month, when she spent a few days in London before returning to Canada following the bombshell announcement that she and Prince Harry wanted to step back as senior royals.

On Monday Harry flew out to Vancouver Island to be reunited with her and their son, Archie.

The pictures were released as Meghan’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, was conducting a solo 24-hour tour of the UK to mark the launch of a campaign and survey to help improve early childhood.

The Five Big Questions survey aims to “spark a national conversation” to help create “lasting change for generations to come”, Kensington Palace said.

Kate arrived in Cardiff this morning to raise awareness of the project, which the NSPCC said would be a “vital source of information”.

Today’s pictures of the Duchess of Sussex show her meeting staff at the rescue centre in north-west London and stroking a dog.

The post was captioned: “Earlier this month, The Duchess of Sussex popped in to see the amazing people at Mayhew to hear about the incredible progress made throughout the festive period.

“The Duchess of Sussex, having been proud patron of Mayhew since January 2019 and long understanding the connection between animal and community welfare, applauds the people at Mayhew for the vital work they do every day.

"From cats and dogs who have found new homes to animal welfare cases handled in the community, Mayhew believes in the power of togetherness and the special bond between humans and animals.”

Meghan, an advocate of adopting rescue dogs, chose Mayhew as one of her first patronages and visited the shelter in January last year.

Yesterday the Duchess of Cambridge was promoting a cause close to her own heart as she began her whistlestop tour of the UK to promote her early years survey.

She visited Birmingham to highlight her project to ask “five big questions on the under fives” which will guide her future work.

The online poll, conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Royal Foundation, is thought to be the biggest survey of its kind.

Kate joined primary and nursery school age children in MiniBrum, a child-size version of Birmingham where children learn through play, in the city’s Thinktank science museum.

She described the period of development which takes place during the first years of a child’s life as the most crucial for “future health and happiness”.

She said: “Parents, carers and families are at the heart of caring for children in the formative years, so that is why I want to listen to them.

"As a parent I know how much we cherish the future health and happiness of our children.

"I want to hear the key issues affecting our families and communities so I can focus my work on where it is needed most.”

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