Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been pictured in Los Angeles for the first time.
The Duke and Duchess were seen delivering food packages on behalf of the Los Angeles-based non-profit Project Angel Food on Wednesday.
Harry and Meghan were captured on surveillance cameras arriving at the Sierra Bonita Community Apartments in West Hollywood in their SUV at 10:55am.
A security team accompanied the couple in a separate SUV that followed closely behind, but they opted to walk up to the apartment to deliver the food alone.
Dressed casually in jeans, Harry and Meghan both followed California’s new rules regarding face coverings, issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on April 15.
While Harry elected to cover his face with a blue bandana, Meghan sported what appeared to be a white surgical mask. The couple also both wore a single glove on their right hand.
Meghan and Harry spent two days volunteering with the non-profit this week, who cook and deliver meals to people with critical illness who are at a greater risk amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
None of the charity’s clients knew the Duke and Duchess were going to be delivering the food, nor had any been forewarned about their arrival.
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One stunned recipient of the royal delivery was Dan Tyrell, 53, who admitted he didn’t recognize the couple when he first opened the door of his West Hollywood apartment.
‘My phone rang and a lady said, “Hi this is Meghan from Project Angel Food.” Tyrell, who has HIV and issues with high blood pressure, told DailyMail.com. “I said, “Oh, do you want to meet me downstairs?” – I didn’t realize it was THE Meghan at this point.’
Tyrell said he was startled when he walked down the building’s external staircase and spotted two black-out SUVs on the road outside. ‘I knew they was something going on,’ he remarked.
As he approached the front door, Tyrell said he spotted a man with red hair who looked familiar. ‘Then I looked at Meghan and put it all together,’ he said.
Attempting to keep a low profile, neither Harry nor Meghan formally introduced themselves to Tyrell. Instead they told him: “Here’s your food and thank you. We hope you’re well and that you’re fine”.
‘I didn’t let on [that I knew who they were,’ Tyrell said. ‘I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable or anything.
The Sussexes moved to LA from Vancouver Island, Canada, in late March amid speculation about who would foot the bill for the royal couple’s security detail.
It’s unclear who funded the two security detail in the SUV’s that escorted the Duke and Duchess around Los Angeles on Wednesday, but the couple were warned by President Trump on March 30 that America certainly wouldn’t be covering the cost.
In response, Meghan and Harry assured the President they were never going to ask in the first place.
‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have no plans to ask the U.S. Government for security resources,’ a statement form a spokeperson for the couple said at the time. ‘Privately funded security arrangements have been made.’
The palace later refused to comment about whether this meant UK taxpayers would no longer have to contribute towards any future bill.
