Harry and Meghan watch Hamilton musical after slew of difficult headlines
The pair attend a charity special of the musical after facing a number of difficult headlines based on Meghan's father's comments.
Thursday 30 August 2018 12:45, UK
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have returned to royal duties after a summer of difficult headlines stirred up by her family.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were guests of honour at a charity performance of the musical Hamilton, that was raising money for the HIV charity Sentebale he founded in 2006.
The pair were all smiles as they met up with the creative team behind the hit stage show and joined the cast on stage.
After jokingly singing some of the lyrics from the show, Harry thanked Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast and crew for the charity performance.
He also thanked the audience for helping to "raise a huge amount of money to change the lives of thousands of children in Botswana and Lesotho and through that work that we're going to be doing now we will be able to stop the generational... hand-down of the stigma of HIV".
Their evening out brings to an end their summer break.
Despite their time away from the cameras, there hasn't been a week where stories haven't appeared about the pair in the papers - largely because of her father Thomas Markle.
In a series of outspoken interviews, Meghan's father has said his daughter hasn't been in touch with him since her wedding, told one paper he put the phone down on Prince Harry and has been critical of the rest of the Royal family.
Richard Palmer, who has covered the royals over the past 15 years, for the Daily Express told Sky News it could threaten to change the public view of the newly weds.
He said: "I think it's definitely effecting perceptions of the couple and the real danger is that this becomes the story that defines them in the same way that the spilt between Charles and Diana in the 1990s became a story that overshadowed everything else they did at the time."
:: What should Palace do about Thomas Markle?
Deputy editor of Elle magazine Kenya Hunt believes it will take more than a few problems with her relatives to damage Meghan's brand.
The former actress wrote articles for the magazine on issues such as race before she met Harry.
Ms Hunt said: "Our audience have been with her since the beginning because she has written for us, so I think they are really about the woman more so than the scandal and a lot of the comments have been really quite sympathetic to her.
"A lot of women who read Elle feel quite sorry for her in terms of being a newlywed but having to deal with this family strife."
Harry and Meghan took their seats in the main auditorium to watch Hamilton rather than sitting in a box away from the audience.
The hip-hop biography of US founding father Alexander Hamilton pokes fun at the British monarchy and features King George III as a main character.
Ahead of the show, Mr Miranda spoke to the royal pair and told reporters: "The prince's sixth-great-grandfather is a character so that'll be fun and surreal for all of us. You don't get that every day.
"You get heads of state, we've had some popular folks come see our show but you don't often get a direct descendent of one of your main characters. That's very exciting and I'm very curious to see their reception."
Nearly £300,000 was said to have been raised through ticket sales and donations for the charity that works to improve prospects for children and young people affected by HIV in southern Africa.