The fifth-in-line to the throne and US actress Meghan, charmed their hosts on a visit to Nottingham, where a huge security operation swung into action as they went on their first royal walkabout. 

About 1,000 flag-waving fans chanted “Harry, Harry” and “Meghan, Meghan” as they lined their route through the Lace Market district. 

Meghan, 36, a natural performer in front of cameras, seemed to take it all in her stride, chatting easily with well-wishers and accepting armfuls of flowers, chocolates and other gifts. 

She also proved as tactile as her husband-to-be hugging people.  

Harry, looking proud to be returning with his fiancee on his eighth visit to Nottingham in the past five years, accepted the congratulations of well-wishers and watched as Meghan worked the crowd like an old hand. 

One red-haired young man shouted out: “How does it feel to be a ginger with Meghan?”.

Grinning, the Prince replied: “It’s great, isn’t it?”

Harry agreed when the fan said “unbelievable”.  

The Prince, 33, had wanted to show Meghan the city to introduce her to the work he has done there to help improve the life chances of young people in deprived areas. 

They visited the Nottingham Contemporary arts centre to support a World Aids Day charity fair. 

Harry has followed in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, in raising awareness of HIV/Aids. 

The couple then travelled to Nottingham Academy, a secondary school in the Mapperley area of the city which works with Full Effect, a programme working to mentor young people at risk of getting into trouble.  

The project has been supported by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry since 2013. 

Meghan, who will become a joint patron of the foundation when she weds Harry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in May, told young people working with the programme they would be back again soon. 

After keeping their cards so close to their chests about their love for so long, she and Harry were perhaps fittingly treated to an improvised play about a couple who decide to go public about their secret relationship. 

In the school hall they watched the performance by actors from Nottingham’s Community Recording Studio.  

It included a character at the end of the play saying he was told he had a royal wedding to attend. 

The couple appeared delighted to watch the performance by the actors, who had come up with the topical plot line. 

Taynika Jarrett-Bennett, 19, who played one of the lead roles, con- firmed it had been deliberate. 

“We wanted to make it a fun play and involve the royals,” she said. 

Harry and Meghan met the cast later and the star of US television legal drama Suits thrilled Taynika and her friend Alisha Leah Kaur, 19, by praising their work. 

“She was so lovely,” Taynika beamed. 

“She said: ‘You were in unison. 

"Your timing was good’. 

It’s given us a lot more confidence.”  

Soon after they arrived at the 750- pupil secondary school, Meghan was chatting with teachers and pupils. 

She quickly showed how she shared the same tactile approach as Harry when she hugged a woman. 

“I’m excited to meet you,” Meghan told Chantelle Stefanovic, embracing the youth worker, who spoke with Harry about issues facing the young in the St Ann’s district of Nottingham. 

In the hall the couple also saw a rap performance and a poetry recital. 

They then left to piercing screams of pupils in the playground and headed back to the city’s railway station, to board the train back to London.