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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a secret “romantic escape” to visit Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie in Portugal earlier this month, according to reports.
The couple made the trip after the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf wrapped up, and before returning to their home in California.
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The claim was made by Portuguese magazine Nova Gente, which said that the couple made the excursion to celebrate Harry’s 39th birthday, which fell during the Invictus Games and saw him being sung Happy Birthday by a stadium of fans.
Nova Gente said the couple were guests of Princess Eugenie in the village of Melides during their “mega-secret” operation.
Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank now live in Portugal where Jack works in marketing for an exclusive gated development near Melides, on the Atlantic coast. Amal Clooney and Rande Gerber reportedly have a stake in the development.
The continuing friendship between Eugenie and Harry and Meghan is in stark contrast to the ongoing estrangement between them and the royals.
Eugenie was photographed visiting Harry and Meghan in California last year, when she was their guest at the Super Bowl, and the Sussexes allowed Eugenie and Jack to live in their former home, Frogmore Cottage for over a year while they relocated to Portugal.
Nova Gente reported, per the Sun: “After the Invictus Games finished, on Saturday September 16, the couple headed to our country for a lightning trip. In a mega-secret ‘operation,’ and with the reserve that has characterized them since they abdicated their royal duties in 2020, Meghan and Harry preferred not to publicize, either through the press or through their social networks, this ‘romantic getaway.’ They arrived in Portugal without their children and as soon as they landed, they headed to Alentejo and more precisely to Melides.”
The pair reportedly stayed in Portugal until September 20, when they flew back home via Heathrow on a British Airways commercial flight.
