Meghan Markle dons letterman jacket gifted to her at her last solo royal engagement as she and Prince Harry make surprise visit to an ‘alternative’ Brooklyn school – where Duke warned students to keep tabs on each other  during ‘mindful meditation session’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a visit to a Brooklyn school touted as an ‘alternative to college’, with the Duchess of Sussex wearing the letterman jacket she wore during her last solo engagement as a working royal gift.

Before their appearance at New York City’s Hudson Yards for the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness in a Digital Age, the couple appeared at The Marcy Lab School, which aims to “prepare young adults of color for rewarding , wealth-generating careers in the technology sector’ within just one year of education.

Images shared by Harry, 39, and Meghan’s friend and media member Omid Scobie, 42, show the duo posing with several students at the school, with the Duchess wearing black skinny jeans, a fitted black top, and ‘ a pair of heels – along with the letterman jacket she received from a debating team at a school in the UK in March 2020.

“Today Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan visited @MarcyLabSchool in New York,” Scobie wrote.

It is one of America’s only alternatives to a traditional four-year college, offering a one-year, full-time fellowship in software engineering. Students pay no fees – they are funded by philanthropic support.

‘Fun fact: Meghan’s varsity letterman jacket was given to her by the debate team at the Robert Clack School in Essex, England during her visit in March 2020.’

Scobie added that Harry and Meghan joined a ‘mindful meditation session’ during which the students opened up about how they were feeling. He said the Duke of Sussex had advised the class: ‘If one of you starts going quiet, not turning up, you need to find out why.’

As she entered the school, which benefited from an Archewell Foundation grant earlier this year, Meghan reportedly told students: ‘We’re happy to be back in New York City.’

During their visit, Harry encouraged the students to look out for each other.

‘Everyone has their own story, a reason for being here, your life is still going to be filled with complications and challenges. And if one of you starts going quiet, not showing up, you need to find out why,’ he said, according to People.

He also asked the group: ‘What excites you the most and scares you the most about the online world?’

His wife then chimed in and said: ‘I think my husband asked about online spaces because it’s a place where so much community can be built, but there’s also so much vulnerability.

“There is a lot of saturation, and as parents we can be hopeful knowing that your clear mind (is working), knowing that they will be seen, appreciated and grow in the right direction. And that’s why what you do at the Marcy Lab is so important.’

After leaving Marcy Lab School, the two made their way to Hudson Yards to begin preparing for their summit.

They arrived at the venue around 11.30am, two hours before they were scheduled to take the stage for the event.

During the event, the couple said they will aim to “give voice to families who are passionate about building a safer online world for children and teens,” according to a statement shared with People.

They were to discuss initiatives that ‘create positive change’ and speak to parents who have ‘suffered tragic loss related to their child’s social media use’.

According to the Archewell Foundation’s website, Marcy Lab Fellows are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old who participate in a year-long fellowship that teaches them software engineering, which allows them to land tech jobs.

The program also integrates mental wellness and civic engagement into their curriculum.

The school was founded in 2019 and since then 128 of their graduates have gone into software engineering, working ‘with companies around the world’.

Arriving at the summit, Meghan wore a strapless white strapless jacket with matching white trousers and heels, while her husband donned a dapper navy suit.

The couple were all smiles as they arrived at the venue, but appeared to get emotional once the event began, with both seen looking incredibly somber as the panel began – with parents who had ‘suffered tragic loss who related to their child’s social media use ‘ on stage to share their stories.

Video taken inside the event, which was posted on Twitter, showed Meghan hugging several of the speakers after they walked off the stage after addressing the gathered crowd.

Harry and Meghan’s appearance at the festival comes just hours after Harry’s brother Prince William and his wife Princess Kate hosted their own mental health day event in the West Midlands.

The Sussexes pulled up to the summit in a convoy of seven blacked-out vehicles – five months after the pair were involved in what they described as a ‘near catastrophic car chase’ in Manhattan.

This is their first in-person event for their charity, the Archewell Foundation.

Tuesday’s event, in which the couple joins Today show host Carson Daly and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, is the couple’s first joint appearance in New York since the infamous ‘car chase’ in which they were caught in May, after attending the Women of Vision Awards.

On this occasion, the pair appeared to take rather strict measures to ensure their safety – with a marked NYPD escort accompanying their fleet of SUVs to the event venue at Hudson Yards.

There are still questions about Harry and Meghan’s account of the car chase, which a statement from the couple’s spokesperson described as ‘almost catastrophic’.

The spokesperson said the couple, as well as Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, were the victims of a ‘relentless pursuit lasting more than two hours’ by ‘highly aggressive paparazzi’.

It was suggested that they were trying not to be followed to where they were staying on the Upper East Side of the city.

However, New York police later told NBC that they did not believe the chase was “near catastrophic,” instead describing it as “a bit of a chaotic scene.”