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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest statement about their Nottingham visit has a blunder. Their official website repeated the same paragraph twice. The mistake appeared in a statement titled A Day in Nottingham: It’s Great to Be Back.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited three community organizations that day. They called the trip a “special homecoming” and said they were “reconnecting with the community they have long supported.” They started their day at the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in St Ann’s, Nottingham. 

Their statement described it as a creative space for young people to explore music and production. However, the same paragraph appeared in both the second and third paragraphs. It said, “The visit began at CRS in St Ann’s, a long-standing creative hub that gives young people a safe space to explore musical performance and production.”

It added, “The Duke was introduced to CRS during a private trip to St Ann’s in 2013 and has championed the organisation’s work ever since – helping build a thirteen-year partnership with Epic Partners and Latimer to help young people build positive alternatives to involvement in violence and crime.”

Harry and Markle also visited Himmah Hub. They stopped by Epic Partners, too. During the time, they greeted well-wishers, shook hands, hugged people, and took selfies. The crowds reportedly cheered as they arrived at CRS. 

However, the couple’s public walkabout also drew criticism from royal journalists. Hannah Furness, royal editor of The Telegraph, wrote, “Back to Nottingham, back to hand-picked charity visits they still call ‘engagements,’ and back to walkabouts. Back to accepting flowers, inviting the press to cover them, and doling out hugs to anyone in the vicinity.”

She added, “Back to the life they said they did not want, except this time with none of the boring bits, or the duty that being a working royal entails.” Furness also wrote that the visit felt like “a bit of a challenge to the King.” She brought up King Charles III and the late Queen Elizabeth II. 

She suggested they wanted to separate royal duties from commercial ventures, including “the selling of jam.” The Times royal editor Kate Mansey also described the visit as “a day full of royal déjà vu moments.” Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as senior working royals in 2020. 

Their Nottingham appearances weren’t official royal engagements, despite the familiar walkabout format. Charles also clarified their status again in a September 7 letter to officials. It described them as “akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”

The letter also said their charitable work was a personal matter, undertaken in their private capacity. Harry and Markle can continue their business and charity work as private citizens, not working royals. Their commercial interests and charitable activities remain separate from official royal duties. 

The Sussexes’ Nottingham visit came nearly nine years after their first joint engagement there in December 2017. Back then, they had just announced their engagement and were greeted by cheering crowds. They also visited Nottingham Academy and attended a World AIDS Day event.

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