Meghan Markle reveals why she needed to fly home to her children after Paris trip

The Duchess of Sussex made her Paris Fashion Week debut earlier this month

Meghan Markle has opened up about why she made a whirlwind transatlantic journey from Paris back to California for just one day in between public appearances.

The reason? To be reunited with her “babies”, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, opened up during her appearance at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (October 14). Here, she chatted with Fortune’s editor-in-chief, Alyson Shontell.

Before her high-profile appearances in New York, Meghan Markle took a detour back to California to reunite with her kids (Credit: Cover Images)

Meghan Markle reveals dash home from Paris to see her children

“You’ve been to Europe. You were just in New York… and you made it home for one day to see your kids,” Shontell noted.

Meghan smiled and responded: “Because I had to. We were talking about that because everyone said, ‘Oh you must have gone from Paris straight to New York.’ I said, ‘No, I need to see my babies.’ So I went back to California for a day and then continued on.”

On October 4, Meghan turned heads as she attended Paris Fashion Week. She attended the show in support of designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, with her spokesperson confirming it was to celebrate “his new creative chapter” as creative director of Balenciaga.

I said, ‘No, I need to see my babies.’

Meghan’s striking all-white outfit for a Balenciaga show featured wide-leg trousers, a matching shirt, and a dramatic white scarf, styled with a slicked-back bun. Later, for the after-party, she changed into a sleek black backless gown.

Just days later, on October 9, the duchess made an appearance with her husband, Prince Harry, in New York for World Mental Health Day. The couple attended the Project Healthy Minds Gala, where they were named Humanitarians of the Year.

On October 10, they appeared at the organisation’s Mental Health Day Festival, where their Archewell Foundation sponsored several talking panels focused on digital safety and youth mental health.

The Duchess of Sussex made her Paris Fashion Week debut earlier this month (Credit: Aissaoui Nacer/SplashNews)

Meghan Markle admits there was ‘no plan’ after leaving the royal family

Meanwhile, during her talk at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit this week, Meghan reflected on her and Prince Harry’s move to California after stepping back from royal duties. She described that period as one focused on “nesting and healing” with no set plan beyond finding peace.

“I think five years ago was a very different situation for all of us,” she said. “Archie was so little, and I had just got pregnant with Lili. We were nesting – nesting and healing.”

She admitted that long-term dreams weren’t even on her radar at the time.

Meghan said: “There was no plan. It was just, let’s get through these next couple of years, create community, which was always so important to both of us in our new environment.”

Speaking about the founding of her lifestyle brand, As Ever, Meghan addressed the assumption that she’d naturally step into fashion or beauty, but said the reality of her life looked very different.

“Those five years at home, I wasn’t running around wearing beautiful outfits,” she recalled. “I was probably in Birkenstocks and sweats like the rest of us, especially during COVID, or just barefoot at home. But I was making a lot of jam. So it ended up becoming the thing that really was my passion project.”

That domestic routine, she shared, became the unexpected inspiration behind her new entrepreneurial direction.