Meghan Markle traveled to Uvalde, Texas to pay tribute to the victims of the Uvalde school shooting in person. Meghan took the trip in a "personal capacity as a mother," according to a spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex told Town & Country, to "offer her condolences and support in person to a community experiencing unimaginable grief."
Wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, she walked around the makeshift memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse where 21 crosses had been set up, each with a name of a victim. She stopped and laid a flower at the base of the cross for Uziyah Garcia, an 8-year-old murdered in the shooting.
The Duchess of Sussex made a low-key appearance, not announced in advance and accompanied by a single bodyguard. While in Uvalde, she chose not to speak with any press.
She also stopped by the community center, dropping off donations of food and beverages for blood drive donors.
"I had no idea who she was. She just was carrying on a conversation like her and I knew each other for years," volunteer Gloria Contreras told BuzzFeed News. "We were just talking about, you know, the situation and what happened what we were doing here. I told her about us giving out water to the people and and feeding them."
"She was just really sweet," another volunteer, Georjean Burnell, added. "She just kind of walked in with her crew and started putting ice waters in the bucket with us and laying out chips for the people who were needing snacks before and after donating."
Burnell continued, "It's funny, we didn't even know it was her until after she left and now we're so sad. I mean, to be honest, we thought she was our neighbor."
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
