The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined a roundtable discussion with people from the United Nations and many of its agencies, diplomatic representatives and donors.
The couple, who stepped down as working royals in 2020 for personal and financial freedom, travelled to Jordan at the invitation of World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warmly welcomed the couple on the steps of the organisation’s office in Amman. He kissed and hugged Meghan who wore a white jacket and matching trousers and also embraced Harry.
Their trip – which Buckingham Palace officials are understood to have been informed of in advance – comes just a fortnight after William’s diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia.
Harry’s estranged brother and sister-in-law Kate already have close ties with Jordan, and were surprise guests at the royal wedding of its Crown Prince in 2023.
The Waleses watched Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II marry his Saudi Arabian bride Rajwa Alseif at an Islamic marriage ceremony known as a ‘katb ktab’.
Kate’s family lived in Amman for a period in the mid-1980s when she was young girl and the couple enjoyed a 2021 holiday in the Middle East country with their children.
The Duchess of Sussex meets young musicians during a tour of Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex listen to a music class during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center at the Za’atari refugee camp, home to displaced Syrians, near Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duchess of Sussex meets young musicians during a tour of Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex look at paintings during their visit to Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duchess of Sussex listens during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center today
The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duchess of Sussex meets girls during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center today
The Duchess of Sussex meets young musicians during a tour of Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Jordan after the World Health Organisation’s invite
The Duke of Sussex listens during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center today
The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Jordan after the World Health Organisation’s invite
The Duchess of Sussex meets young musicians during a tour of Mafraq in Jordan today
The DuDuchess of Sussex poses meet people at QuestScope Youth Center today
The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duchess of Sussex poses with a group of woman at QuestScope Youth Center today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Jordan after the World Health Organisation’s invite
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a visit to QuestScope Youth Center in Mafraq today
The Duchess of Sussex meets young musicians during a tour of Mafraq in Jordan today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Jordan after the World Health Organisation’s invite
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Jordan after the World Health Organisation’s invite
William also welcomed Crown Prince Hussein to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire for a tour last October to meet his former flight squadron during the Jordanian heir’s UK trip.
In addition, Crown Prince Hussein’s mother Queen Rania is a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, the judging panel for William’s environmental prize.
William visited Jordan in 2018 and was joined on a number of official visits by Crown Prince Hussein, with the two men memorably watching a football match together.
As for Harry and Meghan, the couple will meet Jordanian leaders and senior health officials and engage with WHO teams across today and tomorrow.
The Sussexes will also visit frontline health and mental health programmes and meet World Central Kitchen staff co-ordinating food relief for Gaza from Amman.
And they will go to the social development organisation Questscope’s youth centre to hear from young people participating in creative and wellbeing programmes.
Around the table today sat senior figures from UN agencies like UNWRA, UNHCR, World Food Programme, Unicef and diplomatic attendees from countries like the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Canada the EU.
Philip Hall, British Ambassador to Jordan, thanked the Sussexes for travelling to the Middle East: ‘So I would simply say thank you very much indeed for coming.
‘Your visit, your support, your appreciation of the efforts that the United Nations, including of course, the World Health Organisation, the government of Jordan and others, are making here is enormously appreciated. So thank you for coming.’
Jordan has received wave after wave of refugees beginning with Palestinians more than 80 years ago, who now number around 2.5million people, and Syrians who fled conflict in their country until recently ruled by President Bashar al-Assad.