EXCLUSIVE: Independent woman! Meghan Markle is seen driving her car for the first time since JANUARY 2020 as she heads out in Montecito – while Prince Harry makes SOLO trip to UK to pay his respects to the Queen on anniversary of her death

Meghan Markle was spotted in her car for the first time since January 2020 as she headed out in California – while her husband, Prince Harry, took a solo trip to Britain, where he paid his respects to the Queen on her birthday. her died before he left for Germany.

In images shared exclusively with DailyMail.com, the 42-year-old Duchess of Sussex is pictured behind the wheel of a $140,000 black Range Rover on Thursday afternoon, just as her husband arrived in London for the first time in months to attend to be. an awards gala.

The mother of two wore dark sunglasses as she drove near her and Harry’s $14.65 million home in Montecito, just a few miles from the $18 million Malibu estate she and her husband recently reportedly visited looked.

The last time Meghan was pictured in the driver’s seat was more than three years ago — when she drove to Canada’s Victoria International Airport to pick up a friend on January 17, 2020 — right around the time she and Harry announced they were ‘went out for a walk’. back from their royal duties.

Since then, she has only been seen traveling via private drivers and personal drivers.

The recent outing took place just after Harry, 38, landed in his home country to honor his late grandmother – marking his first time back to England since June.

He attended an annual charity event called the WellChild Awards, where he gave a moving speech about Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday – the eve of the one-year anniversary of her death.

He told the crowd that she “looked down on them all” and was “glad they were together.”

“As you know, I was unable to attend last year’s awards ceremony because my grandmother passed away,” he said, referring to how he pulled out of last year’s ceremony after news that the Queen was seriously ill, and traveled to Balmoral – separately the ceremony. rest of the royal family – to attend her deathbed.

“As you probably also know, she would have been the first to insist that I still join all of you instead of going to her.

“And that’s exactly why I know that, exactly one year later, she’ll be looking down on all of us tonight, happy that together we continue to shine a spotlight on such an incredible community.”

On Friday, the Duke of Sussex was seen leaving St. George’s Chapel, where the Queen was laid to rest last year.

Hours later, photographers captured him arriving in Germany for the Invictus Games, which take place this weekend, leaving Britain without seeing his father or brother.

Harry – who founded the Paralympic competition for injured soldiers and veterans – will attend a reception at Dusseldorf Town Hall on Saturday and open the Games later that evening.

It was initially believed that Meghan would attend the event with her husband, as the original schedule stated that she would “take the stage” during the closing ceremony to “provide the intimate and moving look at the extraordinary journeys of the Invictus Games participants.” .’

But her name mysteriously disappeared from the website earlier this week and was replaced by that of presenter Hadnet Tesfai.

A source told DailyMail.com that the first schedule was uploaded in error. It is now unclear whether she will attend the event.

Last year, Meghan supported Harry at the Invictus Games, even introducing him on stage.

Just before Harry left for England, he and Meghan, who share son Archie, four, and daughter Lilibet, two, enjoyed a date night when they attended music sensation Beyoncé’s concert in Los Angeles on Friday evening – where they danced the night away.

Meghan also attended another of the singer’s sold-out shows in LA on Monday – this time without her other half – where she partied with the likes of Katy Perry, the Kardashians, Lizzo, Tyler Perry, Jeff Bezos, Chris Rock, Adele, Justin and Hailey Bieber , and plenty of other stars.

She was also seen hanging out with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife Nicole Avant.

The couple signed a $100 million deal with Netflix in 2020. In late 2022, they released a six-part docuseries with the streaming giant.

Harry then launched a documentary about the Invictus Games earlier this year, but it was branded a flop after failing to make the top 10 list in Britain and America.

Former actress Meghan’s legal drama Suits – which originally launched her to fame – was added to the platform this summer and racked up a whopping 3.14 billion minutes of viewing time in one week.