Meghan Markle Makes a Secret Trip Out of the Country as Wedding Nears

Josh Duboff
Updated

Considering the spotlight on Meghan Markle right now, as we careen closer and closer to her May 19 wedding date to Prince Harry, it would seem like it’d be tough for the bride to get pretty much anything done without it becoming a huge story. Markle can’t exactly hop outside to pick up a name-card sample or check out a potential wedding sconce, or what have you, without photographers descending.

Or at least that’s what you’d think! According to a new report from Good Morning America royal correspondent Omid Scobie, Markle has managed to not only step out of her Palace digs without being detected—she actually fled to a different country for a pre-wedding errand. Markle “quietly jetted” out of London on Thursday to make her way to Los Angeles, where she is reportedly “spending quality time”—and, of course, “talking wedding plans”—with her mother, Doria Ragland. Scobie reports that this is not the only mother-daughter time the two will get before the big day, as Ragland will be flying back to London well in advance of the wedding. (Secret wedding-dress fittings continue to take place in an “undisclosed London location” and at the Palace.)

It’s unclear if Markle is still in Los Angeles, or if she has returned already to London, but this likely solves Sunday’s mystery as to why Markle and Harry did not attend Easter services with the rest of the royals in London. It’s also worth just marveling at her ability to (presumably) do errands and see her mother and generally conduct her business without being snapped (her mother is a regular paparazzi target at this point, as Ragland was photographed leaving her home on Monday). Perhaps the upshot here is: Meghan Markle, improbably, could be anywhere! (or at least we like to imagine so . . . ). That could be her waiting in the car with tinted windows outside your Soul Cycle class, or her in the dark sunglasses shrouded in a blanket in the first-class cabin on your London to Los Angeles flight.

A Fond Farewell to Prince Harry, Third Wheel

We begin with a shot from the royal wedding in 2011, when Harry—solo, gleeful—rode to the ceremony with some of the young members of the wedding party. (Keep this photo in mind as we progress through our journey!)
One umbrella for him and one for, uh . . . both of them.

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One umbrella for him and one for, uh . . . both of them.
By Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.
“How stupendous.”<br />“Truly, Catherine. It’s stunning.”<br />“Guys, can you—do you mind if—?”

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“How stupendous.”
“Truly, Catherine. It’s stunning.”
“Guys, can you—do you mind if—?”
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
This should really be the cover of some kind of Historic Third Wheels coffee-table book.

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This should really be the cover of some kind of Historic Third Wheels coffee-table book.
By Max Mumby/Indigo.
“Harry, it’s like you’re our son or something!”<br />“Thanks, Kate.”<br />“Do a spell, Harry! C’mon”<br />“A spell, Will? Do I—? . . . . Fine.”

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“Harry, it’s like you’re our son or something!”
“Thanks, Kate.”
“Do a spell, Harry! C’mon”
“A spell, Will? Do I—? . . . . Fine.”
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
A Few Steps Behind is what we feel like this portrait would be called if it were up in a gallery somewhere.

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A Few Steps Behind is what we feel like this portrait would be called if it were up in a gallery somewhere.
By Samir Hussein/Getty Images.
It almost looks like his face was Photoshopped onto this one, doesn’t it?!

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It almost looks like his face was Photoshopped onto this one, doesn’t it?!
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
“Up when they’re down; down when they’re up” is the title of the Tumblr post we imagine Harry wrote after this event.
“Up when they’re down; down when they’re up” is the title of the Tumblr post we imagine Harry wrote after this event.
Both by Karwai Tang/Getty Images.
A rare fifth-wheel moment here!

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A rare fifth-wheel moment here!
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
“Guys, I want to meet Paddington Bear, too! . . . Guys?”

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“Guys, I want to meet Paddington Bear, too! . . . Guys?”
By Samir Hussein/Getty Images.
“Kate, do you mind moving your umbrella?” a photographer shout-whispers, “You’re blocking Harry.” Kate turns around: “Oh goodness, didn’t even realize!”

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“Kate, do you mind moving your umbrella?” a photographer shout-whispers, “You’re blocking Harry.” Kate turns around: “Oh goodness, didn’t even realize!”
by Kirsty Wigglesworth/WPA Pool/Getty Images.
Harry’s expression here seems to say, “I see what you’re going for here, photographer. Very amusing.”

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Harry’s expression here seems to say, “I see what you’re going for here, photographer. Very amusing.”
By ARTHUR EDWARDS/Getty Images.
This is super sweet; we have nothing pithy to say about it!

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This is super sweet; we have nothing pithy to say about it!
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
Someone get the red-haired prince a cool little red air horn thing!!!!!!!

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Someone get the red-haired prince a cool little red air horn thing!!!!!!!
By Chris Jackson/Getty Images.
Remember that first picture of Harry in the carriage with the bridesmaids at Kate and William’s wedding?? Well soon he will be getting married himself and these third-wheel pictures we’ve been looking at will (with a few exceptions here and there, probably!) be a thing of the past!


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