CULTURE

Meghan Markle Has Reportedly Traveled to New York City for Her Secret Baby Shower

She made a stealth trip back across the pond.

Feb. 19, 2019

The Duchess Of Sussex Visits The National Theatre

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

For the first time since marrying Prince Harry last spring, Meghan Markle is back in New York City. The short trip is a chance for her to reunite with her friends across the pond, who are reportedly throwing her a baby shower on Tuesday.

According to Us Weekly, Markle arrived in NYC on Friday and was spotted exploring the city on Saturday, when she and a friend sat down for lunch at Ladurée in SoHo and then spent some time browsing luxury children’s clothing store Bonpoint. The rest of her trip has reportedly been spent in similar fashion: eating, shopping, and catching up with the pals she no longer gets to see very often. “The trip is a lovely chance to catch up with friends and spend time in a city she loves,” a source close to Markle told Harper’s Bazaar, adding that the trip was planned months ago.

The actual shower will happen just before Markle returns to the palace. On Tuesday, she and her friends will convene at a hotel on the Upper East Side, per Page Six. The fete will be hosted by Jessica Mulroney, Markle’s stylist and close confidante, and will have a 15-person guest list that also reportedly includes Priyanka Chopra, designer Misha Nonoo, and Markle’s former Suits costar Abigail Spencer, as royal correspondent Omid Scobie told Good Morning America this week. “This will be the last time a lot of them will see Meg until after the baby is born so it’s nice to share precious moments,” the Markle insider told Harper’s Bazaar.

This getaway may actually be the first time the duchess has returned stateside since her wedding: Though she was rumored to be planning a visit to her mother in California last summer, her only confirmed trip west was a weekend spent with the Mulroney family in Toronto in August.

It won’t, however, be Markle’s last trip before welcoming her first child with Prince Harry. Later this week, shortly after flying back to London on Wednesday, she’ll repack her suitcase and join her husband in one last royal visit, this time to Morocco. That three-day trip will reportedly be spent visiting boarding houses, meeting young entrepreneurs, and discussing mental health and equine therapy at the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports, among many other engagements in their very packed schedule. After that work-heavy babymoon, Meghan and Harry will have several weeks free of extended royal outings to finish preparing for their new addition.