Meghan Markle joins the Queen at official event for first time

Meghan Markle joins the Queen at official event for first time

Meghan Markle today joined the Queen and senior royals for her first official engagement with the monarch.

Prince Harry's bride-to-be may not be a member of the royal family yet, but her attendance at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey was a big milestone for the US actress two months before her wedding.

Meghan joined the royals in singing the National Anthem at the start of the service, which was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Cameras focused on the Suits star singing the words 'happy and glorious'.

Screams and shouts from the public greeted Meghan and Harry when they arrived and the US actress looked stylish in a dress and coat by Amanda Wakeley and hat by Stephen Jones.

The Duchess of Cambridge, who was joined by the Duke one month before she is due to give birth to their third child after Prince George and Princess Charlotte, wore a dress and coat by Beulah and hat by Lock and Co.

Commonwealth Day is celebrated across the region and billed as an opportunity for each of the institution's 53 member states to highlight the positive values of the family of nations.

In her Commonwealth Day message, which is printed in the event's order of service, the Queen praised the 'Commonwealth connection' that allows people from different nations to bond and celebrate 'diversity'.

London will soon host a gathering of leaders from the family of nations and the Queen, who is head of the Commonwealth, also paid tribute to the biennial event as an example of how consensus can 'help to create a future that is fairer, more secure, more prosperous and sustainable'.

With the UK leaving the European Union the importance of the Commonwealth may increase, according to some commentators.

Members of the royal family arrived ahead of the Queen including the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke of York and Princess Royal as did the Prime Minister Theresa May. 

However the Duke of Edinburgh, who has effectively retired from public duties, did not attend.

During the service Prime Minister Theresa May gave a Bible reading, former One Direction band member Liam Payne performed singer-songwriter John Mayer's hit song Waiting On The World To Change, while the Portsmouth Gospel Choir sang Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Also among the 2,000-strong congregation was the prime minister of Malta Joseph Muscat, Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland, high commissioners, ambassadors, senior politicians from across the UK and Commonwealth, faith leaders and more than 800 schoolchildren and young people.

In her Commonwealth Day message, which featured in the service, the Queen has praised the 'Commonwealth connection' that allows people from different nations to bond and celebrate 'diversity'.

London will soon host a gathering of leaders from the 'family of nations' and the Queen also paid tribute to the biennial event, an example of how consensus can 'help to create a future that is fairer, more secure, more prosperous and sustainable'.

In her message, the Queen says: 'Through exchanging ideas, and seeing life from other perspectives, we grow in understanding and work more collaboratively towards a common future.

There is a very special value in the insights we gain through the Commonwealth connection; shared inheritances help us overcome difference so that diversity is a cause for celebration rather than division.

'We shall see this in action at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which takes place in the United Kingdom next month, bringing together young people, business and civil society from across the Commonwealth.

'These gatherings are themselves fine examples of how consensus and commitment can help to create a future that is fairer, more secure, more prosperous and sustainable.' 

Dr Andrew Bastawrous, an eye surgeon who has turned a smartphone into an examination tool to combat avoidable blindness in developing countries, gave the reflection.

The surgeon, founder of social enterprise Peek Vision which works to bring better vision and health to everyone, told the congregation: 'Advances in technology, treatment and public health mean that for most poor vision and blindness no longer needs to be a life sentence.

'For the first time in human history it is within our power to eliminate avoidable blindness and poor vision for everybody everywhere. Every country in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to transform their citizens' eye health in a matter of years, not generations.' 

He went on to highlight the Commonwealth's theme for 2018 - Towards a Common Future - telling the congregation 'we have a shared history but more importantly