Duchess Meghan makes first royal solo outing for art exhibition

[September 26, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - Meghan Markle attended the opening of London's new "Oceania" exhibition on Tuesday evening in what was her first royal solo outing since marrying Britain's Prince Harry in May.

Meghan, 37, who is officially known as the Duchess of Sussex, visited the Royal Academy of Arts, where on display are some 200 works including ornaments, canoes and images from the Pacific region Meghan will visit with Harry on their first overseas tour next month.

The exhibition, which includes items from Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and New Zealand, marks 250 years since British explorer James Cook set off aboard the HMS Endeavour for the South Pacific.

Meghan viewed artefacts which span 500 years and are displayed according to the exhibition's "voyaging, place-making and encounter" themes.

Last week, in her first solo initiative as a royal, the duchess lent her support to the launch of a charity cookbook aimed at helping a community project formed following London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster last year in which 71 people died.

Meghan and Harry will set off for Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia in October for a royal tour focusing on "youth leadership, environmental and conservation efforts", according to their office, Kensington Palace.

(Reporting By Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by Stephen Addison)

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