USA TODAY
Maria Puente
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan stop to stroke horses in their stables during a visit to the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports in Rabat in Morocco, Feb. 25, 2019. (Photo11: Kirsty Wigglesworth/ AP)
Royals and horses go to together like tea and crumpets, so it looked like a cozy meeting when Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan stroked the noses of some valiant steeds at one of Morocco’s most prestigious equestrian clubs on Monday.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrapped up their lightning visit to the North African desert kingdom with engagements that saw them communing with horses, sampling traditional Moroccan recipes at a cooking demonstration, and strolling through an arts-and-crafts market in a beautiful walled garden.
They went to see the horses first, holding hands as they arrived at the Royal Equestrian Sports Complex in the capital of Rabat to learn about how equine therapy – therapy using horses – can benefit children with disabilities.
Harry, 34, is a skilled horseman who plays polo regularly. He’s grown up around horses since boyhood thanks to his royal relatives, starting with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who raises and races horses and still rides at age 92.
It’s not clear whether animal-lover and Los Angeles-born Meghan, 37, picked up a love of horses or riding skills during her former life as a Hollywood actress but she looked delighted to meet some of Morocco’s finest.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex sample some delicacies at a cooking demonstration at the Villa des Ambassadors in Rabat, Morocco, Feb. 25, 2019. (Photo11: TIM P. WHITBY / POOL, EPA-EFE)
She wore a olive green jacket over a striped knit sweater, black leggings and boots, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. The royal pair walked past horses in a pink-painted stable block and reached out to stroke noses poking out from stalls.
Neither saddled up; She is about seven months pregnant. Their two-day visit to Morocco, at the behest of the British government, is expected to be her last international trip before she gives birth to the couple’s first child in April.
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The couple attended a horse grooming session with some of the children, watched a riding demonstration and met with trainers and instructors as well as representatives from a mental health charity, according to their itinerary.
Later, the couple participated in a cooking class, sampling some traditional Moroccan recipes made by children from under-privileged backgrounds who are learning Moroccan cooking from one of Morocco’s foremost chefs, Chef Moha Fedal.
The young royals watched as the young chefs made pancakes using a recipe from “Together: Our Community Cookbook,” the cookbook Meghan helped launch last year to raise money for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex walk through the walled public Andalusian Gardens of exotic plants, flowers and fruit trees to visit an arts-and-crafts market, on Feb. 25, 2019, in Rabat, Morocco. (Photo11: Facundo Arrizabalaga/Pool/ Getty Images)
They also met disabled children working in a specially-designed restaurant in Rabat, and checked out local artisan cookware. The couple are preparing to move into a larger and newly renovated residence, Frogmore Cottage, on the Windsor Castle estate near where they married last May.
Their final engagement of the day took them to the walled Andalusian Gardens to see some traditional Moroccan handicrafts for sale amid exotic plants, flowers and fruit trees, and to learn about youth empowerment in Morocco from a number of young social entrepreneurs.
Meghan had changed into more formal clothes, donning a Givenchy black strapless pleated dress under a white Babaton open jacket and Manola Blahnik slingback black pumps, plus gold statement earrings.
On Sunday, the first full day of their visit, they went to a town in the Atlas Mountains to see a school and boarding house operated by the Moroccan foundation Education for All, which offers housing to girls from remote villages who would not otherwise be able to attend high school or college.
Meghan also received henna flowers on the back of her hand in a traditional ceremony for celebrating important events such as weddings or pregnancies.
