Meghan was photographed for the first time since leaving the U.K., visiting a homeless shelter in downtown Vancouver. She and Harry could make Vancouver their new home base, after spending their holiday sabbatical there at the end of last year, and Meghan is keen to learn more about issues affecting women in the city. According to the Daily Mail she met with several women from the shelter who were given permission to post a picture taken with a smiling Meghan on their Facebook page along with the caption, “Look who we had tea with today! The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community.”

A staff member said they only knew about the visit when Meghan arrived. The royal spent time meeting with managers and finding out more about the shelter which provides counselling, hot meals, and basic needs for women and children in need. 

“She asked what the women would need in terms of support. It was a nice meeting,” according to a staff member

The engagement was described as private, despite the picture being made public, and sources in the Sussex camp have said that there will be more similar engagements in the coming weeks.

“The couple both plan to hit the ground running once they are both in Canada, they are keen to get stuck in work wise but the coverage of the engagements will be different,” the source said. “There will be more private engagements and you’ll be seeing a lot more on social media,’ said the source.”

Meghan and Harry outlined plans for their new vision for media coverage the same day they announced their plan to step back as senior royals. This includes not participating in the royal rota which comprises key British print and broadcast royal correspondents who cover royal engagements. Instead the couple want to hand pick journalists to cover their engagements.

Sources close to Meghan say the visit to the Downtown Eastside Women's Center in Vancouver reflects the kind of work she and Harry hope to carry out in the future. “They want to focus on philanthropic community work where they can make a difference,” a source said. “Meghan very much wants to focus on helping vulnerable women in the community, it’s one of her key missions.”

Dressed down in jeans, flat boots, and a wooly sweater, Meghan looked happy and relaxed despite facing another crisis back in the UK, where it was revealed last night that she could come face to face with her father Thomas Markle in the court case she has launched against British newspaper The Mail on Sunday.

The release of the picture of Meghan’s visit came hours ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving in Bradford, Yorkshire, for an away day to learn more about the community. The couple were greeted with cheers as they came out of the City Hall to meet members of the public for a walkabout.

There were no questions about the family fallout but plenty of support for the couple who visited a project called Older Yet Wiser, where they joined in a workshop. Ironically, given the past few days, the group aims to strengthen bonds between grandparents and grandchildren. Now that Harry and Meghan have stepped down there will be increasing pressure on William and Kate to make up the shortfall in royals carrying out engagements.

Meanwhile Prince Harry, who is in the UK but has not been seen since leaving the Sandringham summit on Monday, is expected at Buckingham Palace for an official engagement on Thursday. The atmosphere at the palace is likely to be tense. Some courtiers are said to be angry and upset with the prince for the way he has handled the situation and the upset he and Meghan have caused the Queen.

A friend of Harry’s said that while the prince has been putting on a brave face, this is a challenging time for him personally. “He is saying that he is fine, but I know him well and he’s not fine. He loves his family and this fall out will be heartbreaking for him. That said, he is very loyal to his wife and he wants her to be happy.”

According to reports in People magazine, one of the contributing factors to the couple leaving the royal family is because of “bad blood” within the firm. A source told the magazine, “It's toxic…If relationships had been better, things would have been different.”