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Meghan Markle cuddles best friend Kelly McKee Zajfen’s baby son, Jack; Prince Harry plays with Jack on the floor during the family’s visit.Credit :
Kelly McKee Zajfen/Instagram
Meghan Markle recently welcomed one of her best friends from California for a visit to her new home in the U.K.
This week, Kelly McKee Zajfen, 41, became the first of Meghan’s California friends to visit since she and Prince Harry, 42, moved their family back to the U.K. last month.
The Alliance of Moms co-founder took to Instagram on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to share a series of photos from the trip, providing a new glimpse into Meghan, 45, and Harry’s life in the English countryside. The post included sweet shots of Meghan cuddling McKee Zajfen’s infant son, Jack, during a cozy pub meal, as well as Harry getting down on the floor to play with the baby boy.
“Having the best time,” McKee Zajfen captioned the shots. “There’s something so special about getting a taste of this magical place with my bestie, and having my sweet Jack along for the adventure.”
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“I’ve loved seeing this sweet chapter through her eyes and daily adventures! Especially getting to experience so many little firsts with Jack by my side,” she continued. “Family time is just what the heart ordered. With a side of mashed peas and fish n chips! All of it has filled my heart.”
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The slideshow also included a photo of Meghan and Harry’s 5-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet, spending time with baby Jack. Lili and her brother, Prince Archie, 7, started at their new school in the U.K. this month, shortly after the family arrived in England on Aug. 26.
Another shot showed Meghan, McKee Zajfen and Meghan’s longtime friend Marcus Anderson enjoying a game of mahjong and glasses of wine in the backyard.
“🇬🇧 you’ve been so good to us. We’re leaving with full hearts and definitely leaving a piece of ours here,” McKee Zajfen concluded. “To everyone we’ve met or bumped into, thank you for being so loving to my friend 🥹 It’s been beautiful to witness. She missed you too!”
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McKee Zajfen and her husband, Julian, welcomed baby Jack in March, four years after they lost their son, George Oliver, to COVID and viral meningitis when he was just 9 years old. The couple are also parents to George’s twin sister, Lily, 13.
During a Q&A with followers on her Instagram story last fall, she mentioned how Meghan helped her through the loss, naming the Duchess of Sussex as one of her favorite people.
“I’ve actually known her for almost 20 years?” McKee Zajfen wrote. “She even came to my wedding (15 years ago!), and she’s been the most amazing, nurturing, fun, loving human.”
“She’s been by my side, especially since Georgie died, and I cherish our friendship very much,” she added.
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While McKee Zajfen was Meghan’s first California visitor, the Duchess of Sussex recently reconnected with a pair of friends who also relocated from Montecito to England: Ellen DeGeneres, 68, and Portia de Rossi, 53.
The former neighbors were spotted at The Three Horseshoes, an 18th-century pub near Burford, Oxfordshire, on Monday, Sept. 21. Photos of the trio were obtained by Page Six.
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DeGeneres and de Rossi moved from the California coast to the Cotswolds in November 2024, due in part to Donald Trump’s reelection. In February 2026, PEOPLE confirmed that the couple, who married in 2008, had purchased a new home in Montecito and planned to split their time between the two places.
A real estate source said at the time that the couple had been “missing the California weather and horse scene” since relocating to the Cotswolds, adding, “Portia loves polo and her horses.”
Similarly, even as Meghan and Harry plan to establish a non-royal home base in the U.K. for an extended period, they have retained their home in Montecito.
A source close to Prince Harry previously told PEOPLE that returning to Britain was something he had been “thinking about for a while,” while another source says the Duke of Sussex wants his children “to understand the world he grew up in and where their family comes from.”
For Meghan, who grew up in California, part of the appeal is that her children can understand both of their parents’ childhoods. “Meghan feels very fortunate that they’re able to give Archie and Lilibet the opportunity to experience both worlds,” a Montecito insider told PEOPLE.
