Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are on the final leg of their royal tour, spending their last full day in Auckland yesterday attending a meet-and-greet, before an event at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Thousands of Kiwi fans waited at the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland for the famous couple, who were accompanied by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
As they walked along the path, meeting as many people as they could – and being gifted everything from oversized bunches of flowers to Christmas baubles (both of which Ardern, the world’s most down-to-earth PM, hilariously helped deliver), the Duchess of Sussex spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
A video shows the Duchess’ jaw-drop as she spots 20-year-old Hannah Sergel in the crowd, before she says, “Oh my God” and approaches the New Zealander with a huge smile on her face.
Explaining the connection to media afterwards, Sergel revealed she and Meghan used to follow each other on Instagram, prior to her deactivating her accounts.
“I was friends with her on Instagram before she had to deactivate her account. We used to have conversations and stuff on there. She would tell me to do well at university and encourage me to be myself,” she told New Zealand’s 1 NEWS.
Hannah added that it “means the world” to her that Meghan had recognised her.
“I am so shaky and flustered. When I first saw her, I cried,” she said. On Twitter later, Sergel revealed that Ardern had direct messaged her photos of the encounter and that the NZ PM had comforted her because she was “such a mess.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
