Meghan Markle visits London's National Theatre as royal patron after succeeding Queen Elizabeth.
The Duchess of Sussex met staff at the National Theatre on London's South Bank today
in her first official visit since succeeding the Queen as its royal patron.
Meghan, who is six months pregnant, wore head-to-toe peach, teaming a £1,728 Brandon Maxwell mini dress
with a matching £2,004 blazer, £440 Aquazzura pumps and a Carolina Herrera clutch.
Her hair was styled in a high chignon with a sleek side parting,
as she arrived to learn about the work of the institution and meet staff and apprentices working behind the scenes.
The duchess has an affinity with theatre having spent a decade working as an actress in television,
where she was best known for playing lawyer Rachel Zane in the hit legal drama series Suits.
During her visit Meghan, 37, joined a workshop with members of the Pericles production
before meeting apprentices working as technicians in different departments from carpentry to metalwork and painting.
Shortly after arriving, Meghan spoke to technical apprentices Olivia and Kelsey, and former apprentice Tamykha,
who were working on some chandeliers for Tartuffe in the Assembly Area.
Before returning to Kensington Palace this afternoon, she watched a performance inspired by War Horse,
by children working with the National Theatre's primary school programme.
Pericles was the National Theatre's first production of 2018 from its award-winning participatory programme, Public Acts.
The Emily Lim-directed show brought over 200 people of all ages from across London
together with six professional actors to breathe new life into the Shakespeare classic in a musical version.
Although Meghan spent ten years working in television, her background is in theatre;
as well as a double major in theatre and international relations from Northwestern University,
she volunteered at a performing arts after-school programme for children in underprivileged school districts in Los Angeles.
Earlier this month, following weeks of speculation, Meghan was officially announced as patron of the National Theatre,
a post previously held by the Queen for 45 years.
The duchess has previously spoken of her passion for using the arts to bring people from different backgrounds together,
and her visit today will focus on the work that the NT does, as well as meeting some of the talented teams and apprentices working behind the scenes.
Each year, the National Theatre puts on a range of productions that play in London,
on tour around the UK, on Broadway and across the globe.
In 2017 and 2018 alone, it staged 19 productions at the South Bank, ten across the UK, three in the West End and six internationally.
Its UK-wide learning and participation programme supports young people's creative education through performance
and writing programmes like Connections, New Views and Let's Play.
The NT extends its reach through digital programmes including NT Live,
which broadcasts the best of British theatre to over 2,500 venues in 65 countries,
and the free streaming service On Demand In Schools, used by nearly 60 per cent of UK state secondary schools.
Founded by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963, the NT first had its home at the Old Vic theatre,
but relocated to its current home on the South Bank in 1976.
Meghan is also patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities,
the world's first and oldest international university network representing higher education across all 53 Commonwealth countries.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Prince Harry in his role of Commonwealth Youth Ambassador
will meet young people from across the Commonwealth at a roundtable discussion at Lancaster House.
Talking about her own acting experience today, Meghan said:
'It's unbelievable to be out on stage, that whole sense of self that comes out...just so wonderful'.
Today was her first public visit to the National Theatre but she revealed she'd been in secret last month
to watch a special performance of primary school pupils performing WW1 inspired pieces - and the kids had never known.
As she entered one of the theatre's rehearsal rooms, Meghan told pupils from Edith Neville Primary School in Camden:
'You guys did an amazing job when I saw you perform right before Christmas.
'I snuck in and watched. It was great, I didn't want to leave. It was fantastic... I recognise some of these faces.
You guys did an amazing job when I saw you perform right before Christmas.
'So this will be like a take two. But you're much quieter than when I was last here!'
The pupils then performed a short five-minute performance of their take on War Horse,
with them recreating the WW1 trenches, historic Christmas Day football match and the end of the war.
Kroni Pacolli, 10, chatted to Meghan afterwards and told her he never expected to perform for royalty.
She laughed and went over to shake his hand. Kroni said: 'We didn't know who was coming, just that it was a VIP.
'I thought maybe it was the Duke of Edinburgh or George Ezra. But then when they said it was a female VIP I thought 'Yes! Rita Ora!
'I never thought I'd perform in front of the Royal Family and meet a royal! I've only ever seen her on TV.
I'm speechless. She came and shook my hand and I'm never going to wash this hand again!'
Fellow pupil Tahmina Begum, 10, said: 'Meghan knows how it feels for us as she used to be an actress,
so I hope she was impressed by what she saw.
'We didn't know Meghan was coming, I thought it was maybe another actress - Emma Watson'.
Meghan also reminisced about theatre trips with Harry, before they were married,
as she was briefed by Executive Director Lisa Burger on the theatre's nationwide schools programme.
Told that the NT had visited 60 schools with their production of A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime, she said:
'Oh I loved the book and that production which I saw a couple of years back'.
Earlier she met apprentices from metalwork, carpentry and painting who work on the theatre's back-stage props and scenery.
Talking to Sophie Naylor, 19, and Camille Walter-Wright, 22,
she told them how she'd studied theatre design and scenery at university in Chicago.
Complimenting them on their crafts, she said:
'From all diverse technical backgrounds, you are all coming together to make one thing. It's so wonderful'.
And talking about her own acting experiences, she said: 'that whole sense of self comes out on stage'.
She also went into one of the theatre's rehearsal room to watch a performance from Public Art workshop,
which encourages ordinary Londoners who've never acted to perform at workshops
and then at a performance in the theatre's South Bank headquarters.
Last year the 200-strong group performed their take on Shakepeare's play Pericles,
turning it into a musical - with ages ranging from four to 80.
Meghan looked thrilled as some of the group did one of their warm-ups and then watched as individual cast members recited their lines.
She then met some of the cast, including 13-year-old Blessing, who was in a wheelchair.
Bending down so she could speak eye-to-eye with the school girl Meghan asked her about the company's next performance.
Told it was another Shakespeare - As You Like It - Meghan exclaimed: 'Oh that's so exciting'.
Talking about the appointment, Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, said: 'It is incredible.
The duchess is a very dynamic, new member of the Royal Family so there's a lot of interest around her.
But particularly because this relationship makes absolute sense for us and for her.
'The Duchess obviously with her background is a very natural fit for the organization [but also] in the areas she is very passionate about,
in terms of the education work we do, the participatory work and the nationwide work we do …
She is passionate about the impact that the arts can have – such as community building.
So we talked a lot about that, the infectious nature of people getting involved in the arts. It is absolutely related to her career'.
'We had a very, very good relationship with Her Majesty the Queen and are massively grateful
of the work she has put in to support this organisation since she became our royal patron in 1974,
but I think time moves on and if a change is going to happen we couldn't be more delighted in the way that it's gone'.
Asked when Meghan would be returning to the theatre its director replied:
'Absolutely a matter for Kensington Palace' before joking 'obviously she's got her own production coming up'.
He revealed that Meghan had told in about a hitherto unknown passion for Greek tragedy, which she studied at university.
Speaking about the children she met, he said:
'She was very encouraging to them to them and asked them what it was like to revisit the piece of work,
whether it was easy to remember their lines and how it was to work together.
'That certainly is something at the forefront of Public Act participatory project,
but it is also at the forefront of what she sees the value in the arts as being,
as an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to come together in the shared endeavor of making theatre.
'We are completely delighted to have the duchess as our patron
and look forward enormously to working with her and to seeing her as often as she's got time for'.
Lisa Burger, executive director of the National theatre, added:
'Certainly the Duchess's profile will mean that people who wouldn't otherwise be aware of the National's mission
to make excellent theater for everyone will be made apparent to a lot more people'.
Sir Damon Buffini, chairman of the National Theatre said described Meghan as "delightful".
'The children got a lot of confidence from her being in the room and listening,' he said.
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