Meghan Markle showed off her competitive streak during a visit to a youth centre at a Jordanian refugee camp today – by thumping a football in the back of the net.
The 44-year-old, who’s currently on a quasi royal-tour of Jordan with husband Prince Harry, showed no mercy to the young goalkeeper and proved she’s just as comfortable showing off her ball skills as her sister-in-law Kate is.
The Princess of Wales, also 44, rarely shies away from showcasing her sporting prowess and has, in the nearly 15 years she’s been married to Prince William, been seen playing everything from rugby to tennis and field hockey during public outings – occasionally while wearing a dress and wedge heels.
Today, on an astro-turf pitch at the Za’atari refugee camp near Mafraq in Jordan’s north, it was the Duchess of Sussex’s time to shine though.
Wearing loose taupe-coloured slacks and a khaki t-shirt for the sporting trial, Meghan managed what her husband couldn’t – to score a goal.
The 41-year-old prince, more of a rugby fan, saw his lacklustre side-footed shot comfortably saved – giving Meghan bragging rights.
The Duchess was seen picking up the ball after scoring before chatting to the child refugees gathered – many of whom are displaced Syrians who have fled over the border to the safety of Jordan.
Soccer mom! The Duchess of Sussex showed no mercy to a young goalkeeper today while visiting the QuestScope Youth Center at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan
But can Meghan do it in wedge heels? The Princess of Wales pictured kicking a ball during a visit to the Cambridgeshire County Day at Newmarket Racecourse back in 2022
The California-based couple, travelling without their two children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, are on a two-day visit to the country that the Princess of Wales once called home during her childhood – Kate’s family re-located to Amman for a period in the mid 1980s.
Earlier in the day, Meghan and Harry visited the Specialty Hospital in the Jordanian capital, meeting patients and doctors.
The Duke and Duchess also attended a roundtable discussion in Amman with people from the United Nations and many of its agencies, diplomatic representatives and donors.
The couple, who stepped down as working royals in 2020 for personal and financial freedom, travelled to Jordan at the invitation of World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warmly welcomed the couple on the steps of the organisation’s office in Amman. He kissed and hugged Meghan who wore a white jacket and matching trousers and also embraced Harry.
Their trip – which Buckingham Palace officials are understood to have been informed of in advance – comes just a fortnight after William’s diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia.
A rather more gentle effort from Prince Harry, dressed casually in blue jeans and a navy t-shirt, was comfortably saved
Meghan, 44, who’s on a two-day tour of Jordan, including the capital Amman, looked delighted to have got a goal in the back of the net
You win, dear: Prince Harry looked happy to congratulate Meghan on her sporting efforts
Harry’s estranged brother and sister-in-law Kate already have close ties with Jordan, and were surprise guests at the royal wedding of its Crown Prince in 2023.
The Waleses watched Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II marry his Saudi Arabian bride Rajwa Alseif at an Islamic marriage ceremony known as a ‘katb ktab’.
As well as Kate’s childhood residency in the country, the couple enjoyed a 2021 holiday in the Middle East country with their children.
William also welcomed Crown Prince Hussein to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire for a tour last October to meet his former flight squadron during the Jordanian heir’s UK trip.
In addition, Crown Prince Hussein’s mother Queen Rania is a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, the judging panel for William’s environmental prize.
William visited Jordan in 2018 and was joined on a number of official visits by Crown Prince Hussein, with the two men memorably watching a football match together.
Meghan chats to a young refugee, appearing to admire artwork drawn by the Syrian girl
The couple are on a two-day visit to learn more about humanitarian efforts by the Jordanian authorities and a range of agencies supporting the health and wellbeing of Syrians and Palestinians who have sought sanctuary in Jordan over the decades.
They travelled north of the capital, Amman, to the sprawling Za’atari camp, where families live in semi-permanent homes with a few shops available.
Harry and Meghan toured the youth centre run by the social development organisation Questscope, which provides a number of activities from art and photography classes to music and sport, to engage the youngsters and help alleviate any mental health issues.
When they joined a group of young girls in the outdoor football class, a little girl came up to the duchess, who crouched down to speak to her through an interpreter asking her age and was told she was seven-years-old.
A member of Questscope staff said to the little girl, ‘You know Meghan?’ but she promptly walked off and the duchess said with a smile: ‘So sweet, so confident – that’s what you’re instilling.’
Meghan seemed eager to give the football drills a go and tried passing the ball before she was joined by Harry for shooting practice, where she triumphed.
The couple visited a number of classrooms, watching teenage girls playing traditional Arabic instruments and in another space, more musicians performed with violins and guitars.
Conversations were conducted through an interpreter but when Harry asked the violinists if they made friends through the lessons, 15-year-old Siham, a refugee who arrived in the country aged two, said ‘yes we’re friends’ in perfect English and impressed the Sussexes by saying she was a black belt in the martial art taekwondo.
Jordan has received wave after wave of refugees beginning with Palestinians more than 80 years ago, who now number around 2.5 million, and Syrians who fled conflict in their country until recently ruled by President Bashar al-Assad.
The latest wave of displaced people flowed into the country following the Israeli government’s Gaza war against Hamas, which followed Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians during the October 7 attacks.
