Duchess Meghan pays surprise visit to LA children’s hospital

Duchess Meghan is giving back to Los Angeles.

Meghan, a child of the Southern California city, paid a surprise visit to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Thursday, March 12. ​The duchess moved back to the Sunshine State in 2020 alongside her husband, Prince Harry.

On Thursday, Meghan began her visit ⁠by joining patients at the hospital’s Creative Oasis, where she painted with ‌watercolors alongside patients, according to a press ​release from CHLA. She then went on to visit patients who were confined to their rooms due to their health conditions. The appearance was part of a ⁠monthlong campaign from the hospital entitled Make ‌March Matter.

The event is ‌an annual fundraising campaign that draws on the city’s celebrities and businesses to help ensure ⁠the hospital can provide sick and critically injured children with quality care.

Meghan’s appearance comes amid a busy ‌start to the year for ‌the royal couple. In February, they traveled to the Middle East for a two-day trip in Jordan. The royal ⁠pair arrived at the invitation of Dr. Tedros ​Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general ⁠of the ​World Health Organization, to shed light on communities affected by war and displacement, the BBC reported.

Harry and Meghan will also head to Australia in April, marking ⁠their first visit to the country since a royal tour brought them down under in 2018. The trip holds serious ⁠symbolism for the couple, who last visited just five months after their nuptials. While celebrating the Invictus Games in Sydney, they announced Meghan’s pregnancy with their first child, Archie, ⁠shortly after arriving.

A year ‌and a half later, they stepped back ​from their ‌roles as senior royals amid a rift with ​the palace.