Harry and Meghan describe ‘unbelievable’ welcome they received in Canada
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken of the “unbelievable” welcome they received while in Canada, and joked how their son Archie was mesmerised by the scenery.
Meghan and Harry’s first official engagement of the new decade was to publicly thank the Commonwealth country for hosting them during an extended private break over the festive period.
The couple were described by a royal aide as feeling “energised and excited” to be back in the UK, after spending the majority of a six-week break in the province of British Columbia, where they were spotted hiking on Vancouver Island.
The couple visited Canada’s High Commission in central London, and sat down for tea with Janice Charette, Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK, and her deputy Sarah Fountain Smith, and were even served the popular chocolate treat of Nanaimo bars from British Columbia.
They later met staff gathered on the Commission’s grand staircase, and the duke, in a reference to their successful break, asked: “Anyone here from British Colombia?”
When a few hands went up, he said: “What a beautiful place you live in.”
Harry went on to say “Thank you so much”, and made the group laugh when he added “not that you had anything much to do with it.
“But the warmth and hospitality we were shown while there was unbelievable, and that’s exactly why we chose to go out there.”
Meghan, a former actress, lived and worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and the couple were famously pictured together when Meghan joined her then-boyfriend Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games in the city.
The duchess was beside her husband and told the High Commission staff: “I want to say happy new year and thank you, and as my husband said, my goodness it was just such an incredible time we were able to have there, and with our son too.
“And just to be able to take in the warmth that we experienced from the people, but also just to walk around and just see the beauty of Canada.
“To see Archie go ‘ahhh’ when you walk by, and just see how stunning it is – so it meant a lot to us.”
