CULTURE

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Went on Back-to-Back Double Dates With William and Kate

Their social lives are extremely busy, thank you.

by Katherine Cusumano
The Queen Attends A Service At Westminster Abbey Marking The Centenary Of WW1 Armistice
WPA Pool

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have returned from their grand tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand, but their social obligations are showing no signs of slowing down. On Thursday night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at the Royal Foundation dinner at the Victoria House in Holborn, London. The singer Tom Walker performed; the BBC presenter Anita Rani hosted. Meghan Markle wore Roland Mouret; Kate Middleton wore Preen, a bright red gown she previously wore for a gala in Canada in 2016.

The royals offered little advanced warning about the gala, and not much has been revealed or posted about it since it happened, prompting Vanity Fair to declare the event a “secret” “surprise” dinner. (Secret and surprise, simply because the press wasn’t given a heads up.)

Even though the event was a surprise, the fact that Meghan and Harry were out and about was not. In fact, the couple’s social lives are positively thriving—this week alone, they attended not one but three black-tie events, on consecutive nights, perhaps in order to dance away some of the stress of their dwindling palace staff. (Considering Meghan had to take it easy during their Australia tour to attend to her pregnancy, she’s probably well rested. Or else she’s really going to have to rest up now.) On Tuesday, there was another “secret” dinner at Kensington Palace, this one benefiting the African Parks NGO. (Prince Harry is the organization’s president.) Wednesday was Prince Charles’s 70th birthday party, a glitzy evening also attended (of course) by William and Kate. Back-to-back royal double dates!

The newlywed royal couple appears pretty amenable to a good time: Back in September, they spent a weekend partying at the newly opened Amsterdam outpost of Soho House, a rowdy-sounding weekend that included such activities as napping and touring the city’s red-light district, which Meghan and Harry declined to do. Various tabloids have taken to calling Meghan, Harry, William, and Kate the “Fab Four,” after another iconic British foursome, but we’re thinking “24-Hour Party People” might be a more apt descriptor.