Meghan Markle pictured in London hours before bombshell royal news

Just hours before breaking the news she and Prince Harry would be stepping back from royal life, Meghan Markle was spotted with her entourage in London.

Meghan Markle recently enjoyed a trip to the theatre as she draws up plans with Prince Harry to move to Canada.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to discuss their plans with senior royals in the coming days and look set to spend the majority of this year overseas.

Meghan yesterday visited The National’s Dorfman Theatre in London – where she is a patron – after returning to the UK from a six-week Christmas break with baby Archie.

She was pictured with her entourage and seen not wearing her wedding ring.

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, leaves the Dorfman Theatre in London surrounded by her entourage. Picture: BACKGRID

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The couple are expected to meet with royals including the Queen and discuss possibilities such as relinquishing their HRH titles and relocating their office to Canada.

But sources stressed the talks are preliminary and nothing has yet been finalised.

Meghan just hours before news broke. Picture: BACKGRID

“It is true that Harry and Meghan will spend a fair amount of time in Canada over the next couple of months and possibly going forward too,” a friend told The Sun.

“Right now they are starting talks with their family about their plans for the future. Those conversations are at a very early stage.

“There is a very careful and serious process to go through which they are going to respect.

“But it is clear they are on a different and unique path, and they are very much thinking about what the future looks like for them.

“That could include being based in Canada or the possibility of walking away from their HRH titles, although hopefully it will not come to that.

Meghan is a keen lover of the arts as a former actress. Picture: BACKGRID

“It’s been a very tough year – they’re newlyweds and they have a young baby – so they’re looking at what their life looks like in the future. Everything is on the table.”

Harry and Meghan visited Canada’s London headquarters yesterday on their return to work.

Canada has replaced an African state as the number one option for the couple to make their semipermanent base outside of the UK.

“They have a lot of friends there,” the friend explained. “Meghan feels comfortable and at home there because she lived there for seven years before meeting Harry.

“They very much enjoyed their time over Christmas and New Year where they weren’t pictured once and were left alone.”

Harry and Meghan’s official staff will remain at Buckingham Palace.

But the couple are expected to work closely with the controversial US PR company Sunshine Sachs to launch the Sussex Royal Foundation in the coming months.

Harry and Meghan’s announcement has shocked the world. Picture: Michele Spatari / AFP

“They took a genuine break over Christmas. But they are back working and planning the launch of the Sussex Royal Foundation, and Sunshine Sachs are involved in that,” the friend added.

The decisions Harry and Meghan make are likely to be highly controversial and unconventional, with some courtiers worrying they could essentially “exile themselves from the royal family”.

However, their friends argue it has become clear to the couple that the monarchy is moving towards a future focused on Prince Charles and Prince William.

One said: “They are back to work. They have nothing to hide and have got so much good work to do.

“But it has been made very clear by the institution that the Sussexes are not central to the future plan.

“Just look at the picture released last week of the Queen with the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and George.”

Harry and Meghan spent their first Christmas with baby Archie at a rented $14.1 million home in Vancouver Island.

Prince Harry and baby Archie on their Canadian vacation over Christmas. Picture: Sussex Royal

They were also visited by Meghan’s mum Doria Ragland, snubbing a royal Christmas at Sandringham just days after Prince Philip was taken to hospital.

The property on Canada’s West Coast has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms as well as a guest cottage with three beds and two baths.

Temporary fencing, cameras and security were added to the home during their stay.

In March, they attended a Commonwealth Day event at Canada House celebrating Canadian culture with expats from the country in the UK.

Pregnant Meghan was presented with a babygro emblazoned with a maple leaf.

Harry held his Invictus Games for wounded soldiers in the Canadian city of Toronto in 2017. The couple made their first public appearance watching a wheelchair tennis game.

Prince Harry and his then girlfriend Meghan Markle attend a wheelchair tennis event at the Invictus Games in Toronto. Picture: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

Meghan was based in the city while filming US legal drama Suits, which she appeared in from 2011 until 2017.

She put her three-bedroom townhouse up for sale in December 2017, weeks after the pair announced their engagement.

It sold for $2.29 million the following month. Harry spoke of his desire to leave the UK in a controversial ITV documentary with Tom Bradby last October, suggesting Cape Town as a potential location.

Meghan also admitted in the program to becoming disillusioned with public life.

“It’s not enough to just survive something, right? That’s not the point of life. You’ve got to thrive, you’ve got to feel happy,” she said.

“I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried, I really tried. But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission