Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s Whirlwind Visit to Belfast
So you think you can travel like the royals?
Here's what you have to do: Meet-and-greet the public, inspire the peacekeeping youth of tomorrow, drink at the oldest pub in the city, drop in on the Silicon Valley of Northern Ireland, and tour the Titanic. All in one day.
Sounds exhausting? Well, clearly you're not Prince Harry or Meghan Markle, who (somehow, some way) navigated all that — while still smiling— during their first official joint visit to Northern Ireland last week. Oh, and they looked impeccable too, of course.
First, they stopped by an event for the program Amazing the Space, which Prince Harry founded in September 2017 to "encourage young people to become ambassadors for peace within their communities" in Northern Ireland, which ended 30 years of conflict in 1998 with the Good Friday agreement.
After chatting with the young folks and giving peace a chance, they headed to The Crown Liquor Saloon, one of Belfast's oldest buildings, owned by the National Trust. The official @KensingtonPalace Twitter account says their stop-off was to learn about its history, but gossipy folks claim the couple "enjoyed half pints of Guinness and half pints of Mourne Mountain Brewery golden ale." And what to eat? "Harry ordered sausage and potatoes, while his fiancée dined on the pub's signature Irish stew."
Let us briefly pause to comment on Meghan Markle's charming brown purse by young British designer, Charlotte Elizabeth — if only to point out that it's already sold out. In every color. If Meghan co-opted Oprah's Favorite Things idea, she could singlehandedly save the retail industry. Just a thought.
Then it was off to the Silicon Valley of Northern Ireland — the "next generation science park" Catalyst created on the city's regenerated docklands. The headquarters supports 600 entrepreneurs and innovators every year. Fifteen entrepreneurs showcased their future Shark Tank products to the couple, including "high performance surfboards" and "an innovative approach to cemetery management." (Bet that provided some interesting pillow talk.)
Finally, they headed to Titanic Belfast, a tourist attraction centering around that infamous ship which actually launched out of Belfast. They experienced a 3-D virtual tour and cabin recreations of the ship's interior. No actual artifacts from the Titanic are present due to "ethical reasons," but perhaps that's best to avoid talk of icebergs and doomed voyages, as Meghan and Harry are, of course, set to be married ppn May 19 in front of 600 guests. Did you receive your invite yet?
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