Royal watchers, super fans and curious members of the public filled up the Front Square in Trinity College Dublin this afternoon to greet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
As part of their action-packed first official visit to Ireland, they made their way to the historic college after visiting Croke Park and Áras an Uachtaráin earlier in the day.
The royal couple visited the Book of Kells before chatting to fans who lined the barriers in the university, eager to speak to the newlyweds.
Numerous people asked the Duke of Sussex, “Is football coming home?”
He replied, “Most definitely,” to one man in the crowd before engaging in conversation about football with a young girl.
The pair predicted a score of 2-1, in England’s favour, for the team’s next match, before Harry advised her not to engage in betting.
One superfan was sporting a Union Jack tote with Meghan and Harry’s face printed on it.
She revealed that she had travelled from Munster to see them and said, “I’d prefer they had come to Limerick,” when asked if their first official visit being to Dublin was significant.
Despite having to travel, the royal watcher was happy to have got to see them at all.
Patrick O’Neill attended the royal wedding, and as a superfan of the royal family, it was his duty to make the journey down to Dublin from his home in West Belfast.
Before the couple greeted crowds today he enthused, “I met Prince Harry twice and I met Meghan in Belfast, she just walked past me and said ‘Hi!'”
The Belfast lad added that he hoped he was the biggest royal fan from the West of his city to make the trip down to Trinity College.
“The atmosphere was fantastic,” he said recalling Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
Patrick attended their big day with other royal superfans.
He even brought his photo album detailing their wedding, in the hope he could show it to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Having met Meghan and Harry some fans revealed to us that they didn’t think they’d get that close to the young royals, nevermind get to shake their hands.
They said the couple were “really nice” to them and were chuffed that they had said “Hi.”
The drizzle throughout the afternoon didn’t dampen the spirit of the crowd, as they maintained an electric atmosphere until long after the barriers were removed following the couple’s departure.
After meeting the public in Trinity, the couple enjoyed an intimate dinner in Delahunt’s.
The Camden Street restaurant was delighted with Meghan and Harry’s visit sharing multiple photos and videos from their luncheon on social media.
They then visited the famine memorial on Custom House Quay before wrapping up their first official trip to Ireland in CHQ.
There they visited the Emigration Museum and DogPatch Labs where they discussed Ireland’s bright future with female entrepreneurs.
