The Duke and Duchess of Sussex enjoyed a night at the Natural History Museum gala 2019 to watch a performance of “The Wider Earth”, a play about a young Charles Darwin in support of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.
Meghan and Harry held hands as they arrived at the Natural History Museum gala 2019 where they were greeted by officials. Meghan also received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from 12-year-old girl Sage
An arrival video:
Tonight’s gala is taking place at the Natural History Museum in London which holds the world’s most important natural history collection. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology.
Completed in 1881, after seven years of construction, from 1873 to 1880, the museum had become one of London’s most iconic landmarks. Inside you’ll see the cathedral-like Hinzte Hall (formerly Central Hall) at the Museum’s main entrance.
The ceilings are decorated with intricate tiles that feature plants from all over the world on 162 panels. Three of the arches of the Hinzte Hall are adorned with 78 monkeys.
The Mirror reports:
‘The pair are well acquainted with the venue in Kensington, London, as it is where they are said to have enjoyed an after-hours date.
In March 2017, Harry reportedly booked out the entire museum one Sunday and slipped in after it had closed to take Meghan for a private tour.
A source said at the time: “Meg had always wanted to go so Harry arranged a private visit. It’s quite romantic after dark as all the exhibits, including the dinosaurs, are all still lit up. And of course, they had it to themselves.”
Meghan and Harry smiled as a robotic tortoise puppet handed them their tickets for the play
As mentioned before, tonight’s gala is held in support of two organizations that are very close to Harry and Meghan’s hearts. One of them is the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust – a global family of 54 countries, home to 2.4 billion people, of which 60% are under the age of 30 which supports young leaders working in areas including the environment and education. Harry is the President of the organization.
The evening was also held in support of the Queen’s Canopy which is the official charitable partner of the production, and which is a unique network of forest conservation initiatives, which involves all 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
During their Australian tour last year, Harry and Meghan unveiled six dedications to the Canopy and welcomed the commitment to the initiative by its latest member, Kiribati.
“Planting trees and conserving forests helps us in so many ways,” Harry said during the tour. “It is a simple, but effective way to restore and repair our environment.”
During the evening, Meghan and Harry were shown around a pop-up Darwin exhibition by producer Trish Wadley.
They were also given a detailed demonstration of some of the puppets involved in the production during their time at the museum and met creators Nicholas Pain and David Morton.
They also spent time with children involved in projects run by the Urban Studies Centre which aims to offer outdoor learning to schools as well as connecting with people across the community with the world around them.
The Wider Earth play Meghan and Harry are watching this evening, is by David Morton. The story is a fictionalized account of Charles Darwin’s five-year journey and encounters on HMS Beagle.
The original production opened in Brisbane at the Bille Brown Studio in 2016 and incorporated puppets and other visual theatre elements. The play was also performed at the Sydney Opera House once. It was nominated for Best New Australian Work and Best Set Design at the 2017 Helpmann Awards.
The gala show tonight was staged on the 210th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin
Then it was time to take their seats.
A preview
And a very nice video from the night
Meghan and Harry were treated to an amazing evening performance but there was a treat in store for us too thanks to Meghan’s glamorous outfit.
Keeping to her favorite palette of cream, Meghan wore her Amanda Wakeley Sculpted Coat. This isn’t the first time we’ve spotted her wearing this chic coat, she wore it for the Commonwealth Day Service last March.
Underneath Meghan wore a white Calvin Klein turtleneck dress, which is an altered, bespoke version of a piece from the label’s 2019 Resort collection.
Meghan carried the Ralph Lauren “Ricky” Olive Green Clutch
And styled it with her Ralph Lauren “Celia” Pumps in olive.
Both the clutch and the heels were first seen on Meghan at Prince Louis’ christening.
Meghan also accessorized with her Vanessa Tugendhaft Precious clover earrings.
