Meghan Markle will officially become a royal [1] when she marries Prince Harry [2] on May 19, but she's already following in his footsteps. During the couple's visit to Edinburgh [3] on Tuesday, Meghan broke royal protocol when she hugged Social Bite cofounder Alice Thompson. According to People, the emotional moment occurred [4] after the charity worker told Meghan how inspired she was by the speech she gave to UN Women about female empowerment [5] back in 2015.
While royal protocol dictates that touching shouldn't go beyond a handshake, the British royal family are no strangers to breaking the rules [6], especially when emotion takes over. In fact, this past June, Prince William was photographed embracing a victim of London's Grenfell Tower Fire [7] during a visit to one of the crisis centers.
Meghan is also currently deciding on which charitable causes she'll champion [8] once she becomes a royal. According to NBC News, the former Suits actress [9] recently made a "private visit" to the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, where she served rice. Meghan has yet to officially announce her charity patronage plans, but the causes she already supports [10] will likely impact which organizations she chooses.
