Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Morocco royal tour photos© Getty Images

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry bond with locals, get a tattoo and more on second day in Morocco


Weekend Editor
UPDATED FEBRUARY 24, 2019 3:37 PM EST
© Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Morocco day 2

Rise and shine! The Duke and Duchess of Sussex got an early start on Sunday morning, blazing into a busy second day in Morocco. Brimming with wonderful interactions, Meghan and Harry met local people, attended empowering meetings and even got inked! Scroll through our gallery to see the highlights from day two in Morocco!

 

Start your day the empowering way...

The Duke and Duchess' first stop was a boarding house in the small town of Asni. The Moroccan NGO ‘Education For All’ builds boarding houses for girls aged 12 to 18 to ensure that girls from rural communities in the High Atlas Mountains region are able to access secondary education. Meghan and Harry toured the facilities and, most importantly, met with girls and housemothers.

Click to see Harry and Meghan's late (but fabulous) arrival in Morocco!

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry style

Comfy Chic!

Meghan and Harry went for more resilient looks on their first full day in the country. The Duchess donned a long alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet navy blazer and skinny jeans for the outing. Bundling up under a scarf, she also wore her favorite Birdies Blackbird slippers - which she previously sported in Toronto in 2017. The stylish design has faux shearling insoles, making it the perfect choice for walking around Morocco. 

Harry's look was equally casual, made up of loose slacks, a gray sweater and faded brown desert boots. The pair were tied together by their use of subdued colors.

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Meghan Markle flowers

Welcome gifts

The couple seemed relaxed and happy as they met workers at the boarding house and began their official engagement. As a gesture of welcome, they were gifted with a lovely bouquet of flowers for mom-to-be Meghan. The bright group also nicely greeted the royals with waving British flags upon their arrival.

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Morocco - royal tour

Education For All Boarding House

Seen here, the 34-year-old redhead and his 37-year-old brunette beauty posed with the girls and staff outside their boarding house.

During the visit, Meghan conversed with the girls in French. "Qu'est ce que tu veux être quand tu quittes l’école? (What do you want to be when you leave school?)", she asked. "Vous voulez aller à l’université, (Do you want to go to university?)", she also queried, and was very impressed when the girls told her they wanted to be teachers, engineers and doctors. "Big dreams."

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Meghan Markle gets tattoo

Inked up for the royal baby!

Inside, Meghan was given a henna tattoo by 17-year-old Samira who has lived in Asni for 6 years. Abiding Moroccan tradition, she created a henna flower on the royal's right hand to celebrate her pregnancy.

When the artwork was completed Meghan said, "That’s really lovely", and proudly showed it to husband Harry, who sat next to her on the couch, protectively holding his arm around her.

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Meghan Markle Morocco henna tattoo

Lucky flowers

Closeup! "It will dry for a little bit and then we can walk through," Meghan said after the gorgeous inking was done. Samira then explained to the lovebirds that getting that done "is a traditional practice for pregnant women in Moroccan." She then added: "It is to bring luck for the baby."

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Meghan and harry meet little girl

A tender moment

Once dry, Meghan flaunted her tattoo around town. In a sweet interaction, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got down to a child's level to meet sisters Rania, five, and Ayhana Minejem, two. Meghan gleefully showed the two little girls her pretty henna.

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Meghan Markle in Morocco boarding house

Royal study buddies

While at the boarding house, the Duke and Duchess dropped into a classroom and spoke with girls studying for their exams. They seemed delighted to ask them about their work and their favorite subjects.

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Meghan Markle talks with girls

Dorm dialogue

Another moment from their engagement showed the former Suits star asking two girls in the EFA dorms about what courses they would like to study at university and the careers they would like to pursue in the future. When one of the girls answered "astronomy", Meghan was delighted, responding with: "Wow! That's impressive."

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Prince harry dorm visit

Dorm dialogue

Prince Harry popped into a pretty pink living quarters at the boarding house, where residents elaborated on their daily lives and how the organization has helped them. 

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visit school

The focus on education continued at engagement 2...

Another engagement in the town of Asni, saw the royal couple visiting Lycée Qualifiant Grand Atlas, a local secondary school. There, they (along with their royal entourage, of course) stepped into classrooms and met with students and teachers.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle play ball

Play ball!

The Duke and Duchess enjoyed watching some students play in a football match at the Lycée Collegial Le Grand Atlas. Though they did not participate - as they have at past athletic engagements - they met with some of the players afterwards.

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meghan-markle-prince-harry-love-tour

Love and football

The royal couple seemed particularly smitten while spectacting the scrimmage. Their love has been rooted in sporting events - what with the Invictus Games marking their first official appearance together.

Stay tuned for more!