Meghan Markle is considering a return to charity work as she and her family settle into their new life in the Cotswolds, a well-placed source has revealed.
After six years in the United States, the Duchess of Sussex, 45, is mulling ways she can be “more involved” in charitable endeavours now that she has relocated to the United Kingdom with her husband Prince Harry, 41, and their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.
“She is thinking about plans for how she can get more involved and support the causes she was supporting and was passionate about again, and new causes too,” the insider told The Sunday Times.
It is understood that she hopes to do more with Smart Works, a charity that supports unemployed women with the intention of re-entering the workforce.
The Duchess of Sussex held four patronages when she was a working royal in the UK, however Smart Works is the only charity she continued to support after Megxit.
In 2019, the royal worked with UK fashion brands Jigsaw, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis to create a capsule wardrobe collection as part of her work for Smart Works.
During the launch, she emphasised the importance of the charity, saying: “As women, it is 100 per cent our responsibility, I think, to support and uplift each other, to champion each other as we aim to succeed, to not set each other up for failure.”
Smart Works recently hinted at a possible collaboration with Meghan as it weighed in on her transatlantic move, telling Hello! that the charity is “very excited to welcome the Duchess and her family back to the U.K.”
It comes a few weeks after rumours swirled about the former Suits actress returning to the screen.
Numerous reports alleged that Meghan was in talks with director Guy Ritchie to appear in the third season of his show The Gentlemen alongside Theo James and Kaya Scodelario.
The Sun claimed that the role was worth at least £1 million ($2 million) and that filming would take place in the English countryside.
However, just days after speculation started making the rounds, former magazine editor Tina Brown claimed on Substack that the casting plan was abandoned because “the backlash in the UK was so intense” that it became “untenable to go forward”.
All rumours aside, it has been made clear that Meghan’s priorities currently lie with her family and ensuring Archie and Lilibet settle into their new life in the Cotswolds seamlessly.
A friend of the Sussexes told The Sun: “They are still unpacking at home and getting over the jet lag.”
Following reports that the children had been enrolled in a local school, the source added: “They’re buying school uniform and trying to buy pencil cases without being spotted.
“They wanted to come back, they’re excited about being back and everything that’s to come.”
The Sussexes touched down via private plane at Birmingham Airport two weeks ago.
The family are understood to be basing themselves in the Cotswolds and are staying at a celebrity-owned property while they look for a more permanent home in the area.