Meghan Markle tells veteran she is missing Archie and Lilibet as she joins children’s book reading

The trip marks the couple’s first trip to Europe in two years

The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “missing” her children Archie and Lilibet while on her first trip to Europe in two years.

Prince Harry and Meghan returned to Europe for the first time since they quit their roles as senior royals in 2020 to attend the Invictus Games, which was founded by the Duke of Sussex in 2014.

During their trip abroad, which included a secret visit to the Queen ahead of the games, their children Archie, three, and 10-month-old Lilibet have remained in California due to security concerns.

The prince hopes to bring his two children to visit the UK, but his legal representative said he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous. Harry is bringing a claim against the Home Office after being told he would no longer be given the same degree of personal protective security when visiting from the US, despite offering to pay for it himself.

Meghan with Archie back in 2019 (Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan’s trip to The Hague, where the games are currently taking place, is understood to be the longest the pair have ever spent away from their two children.

Over the weekend, Meghan sat in on a reading to children in a private event held in the Zuiderpark, where British army veteran and one of the GB competitors James Stride read an extract from his book of choice, Hairy Maclary.

He told the Daily Mail that Meghan had confessed she wanted to attend the reading because she wanted to be around children as she was missing her own.

He added that the duchess was “very friendly” and that she also read Hairy Maclary to Archie and Lilibet back home.

It comes after Meghan lent her coat to a mother holding a newborn baby who was accompanying the Sussexes to the venue on the first day of the Games.

A video shared to Twitter by royal reporter Omid Scobie shows the duchess walking alongside the woman who had her baby wrapped in a long camel-coloured coat.

“En route to the venue, the couple were escorted by #TeamNetherlands competitors and family - one of whom was proudly carrying a newborn,” the Tweet said. “Noticing the sudden drop in temperature, Meghan quickly handed over her coat to the mom to help keep the baby warm.”

The couple has so far shown a united front at the games.

The pair kissed on stage following a heartwarming speech from Meghan in which she publicly declared her love for Prince Harry while inviting him onto the stage.

“I could not love and respect him more and I know that all of you feel the same, because he is your fellow veteran, having served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and 10 years of military service,” she said.

“He’s the founder of the Invictus Games, and the father to our two little ones, Archie and Lili. Please welcome my incredible husband, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.”