Harry Makes First Public Appearance in the UK since Moving to Canada with Family in Environmental Summit in Scotland

Prince Harry returned to the UK to make his first public appearance since stepping down as a senior member of the royal family and moving to Canada.

Since stepping down as a senior member of the royal family, Prince Harry expressed in a statement his desire to balance a life between Canada and North America.

After weeks living under the radar, as he and his wife Meghan Markle and son Archie. The couple has been plan how they are going to live the life of financial independence they were granted by Queen Elizabeth. Harry has returned to make a few final appearances as a working royal. 

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EXCLUSIVE: Home sweet home! Harry and Meghan are all smiles carrying their bags off a commercial flight in Canada without Archie after US trip. 🇨🇦📸 Clint Brewer/Derek Shook/Flightrisk/BACKGRID

A post shared by Daily Mail (@dailymail) on Feb 15, 2020 at 4:11pm PST

In his first public appearance since his royal exit, Harry arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, to speak at the Travalyst summit. Travalyst is an initiative he started in support of environmental tourism. Sussex royal revealed:

"Travalyst is working to build a future where people are able to take holidays and trips that have social, environmental and economic benefits to communities and destinations built in."

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In Scotland today, The Duke of Sussex and Travalyst have hosted a summit to launch their next phase of work, putting communities first, with a mission to create a more sustainable tourism industry. • “We are a coalition of partners with a shared goal to transform the future of tourism and travel for everyone – to give people access to better information and ensure the future development of tourism positively supports the destinations that the industry relies on, and that their communities depend on. We believe travel is a good thing. It is the heart of human experience, of cultural connections and of new friendships.” - The Duke of Sussex Travalyst is working to build a future where people are able to take holidays and trips that have social, environmental and economic benefits to communities and destinations built in. There is an increasing desire for these types of trips – and we want to make them a reality for everyone. At today’s summit in Edinburgh, representatives from across the Scottish tourism sector discussed the need to encourage and incentivise sustainable practices across the supply chain, in a way that meets the needs of consumers who want more clarity on how to choose more sustainable options. Image © PA / SussexRoyal

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Feb 26, 2020 at 9:06am PST

During the launch of Travalyst in September, Harry recalled an encounter with a young Caribbean boy that inspired him to launch the initiative focused on environmental tourism.

At the time of the launch, he told the press that while visiting the Caribbean for a coral reef replanting project, a seven-year-old told him that because of his country the coral reef in the Caribbean was dying.

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From South Africa 🇿🇦✈️ to Botswana🇧🇼! • What a welcome! The Duke of Sussex has kicked off the next leg of #RoyalTourAfrica by planting trees in Chobe National Park with 200 school children from local primary schools. The Duke planted a baobab, which are severely under threat across Africa, which will live for 1000 years! Each child grew their sapling from seed in a mission to restore the Chobe Forest Reserve. They were all grown in recycled milk tins from the elephant orphanage, using fertilised soil from the orphans’ dung! The park is home to a huge elephant population – more than 17,000 – along with some of the world’s most diverse and vibrant eco-systems. The people, wildlife and whole area rely on the Chobe River to survive, but many species and indigenous trees are sadly now extinct. There is critical need to secure the forest so wildlife have access to the river. The Duke was welcomed by his close friend Dr Mike Chase, Founder of Elephant Without Borders, who has dedicated his life to supporting Botswana’s people and Elephants. ‘If you look after nature, it will look after you’ – The Duke of Sussex The Duke will shortly continue the tour with stops in Angola 🇦🇴 and Malawi 🇲🇼 focussing on community, HIV/AIDS and environment. #RoyalVisitBotswana Photo © PA Images

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Sep 26, 2019 at 12:24am PDT

The encounter inspired Harry to partner with Visa, Skyscanner, Trip.com, TripAdvisor, and Booking.com to come up with travel mechanisms that are better for the environment.

Despite all the anticipation for it being his first public event since his royal exit, Harry did not say a speech at the summit. According to PEOPLE, he simply made a brief welcome before the other speakers took the podium.

Since the Queen announced that Meghan and Harry could no longer use their royal titles, his name change was announced at the summit. During his introduction, the host Ayesha Hazarika said:

"He's made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry. So ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, warm Scottish welcome to Harry."

“I want to help create a platform where all of us concerned about these issues can work together, where competitors can unite and incentivise a positive systemic change. There’s a reason why this hasn’t been tried before, but with our partners we have the best shot.” — Harry pic.twitter.com/AoMxxyyR9p

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) February 26, 2020

 Daily Mail reports, the Queen was hurt with Meghan and Harry after they responded in a lengthy statement to her announcement that they could no longer use their royal titles.

An insider said she doesn't want to talk about the drama in the royal family and "[the Queen] just wants it over and done with."