The Duchess of Sussex has enjoyed a 'beautiful' response from the 'loving' British public since her return to the UK, her best friend has revealed. 

Kelly McKee Zajfen, who has been staying with Meghan and Harry, said people they have met in the Cotswolds have been telling the Duchess how much she has been missed.

Ms Zajfen has also shared the first photographs of Meghan since her return to Britain about three weeks ago.

She posted a series of pictures on Instagram, including one of the Duchess smiling while holding Ms Zajfen's son, Jack, in a country pub. Harry is also pictured laughing while playing on the floor with the baby boy, who was born this year.

Ms Zajfen also revealed how touched Meghan has been at the warm welcome she has received on her return to the UK, six years after moving to America with Harry.

She told her tens of thousands of Instagram followers: 'To everyone we've met or bumped into, thank you for being so loving to my friend [Meghan].'

Suggesting Meghan - who she describes as her 'bestie' - had repeatedly been told she had been missed, Kelly wrote: 'It's been beautiful to witness. She missed you too!'

Ms Zajfen, who has been staying with the couple for the past week, added: '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.

'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.'

It has also been reported in the US that Meghan and Kelly enjoyed a pub lunch with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who recently celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary.

Another picture showed Ms Zajfen playing mahjong with Meghan and close friend, Markus Anderson, one of the Duchess's closest confidants who has become known as the 'third wheel' in her marriage to Harry.

Ms Zajfen's trip included her young son, who was born four years after she lost her nine-year-old son to Covid.

The Alliance of Moms co-founder, 45, has been friends with the Duchess of Sussex for more than 20 years and, until last month, was a near neighbour in California.

They first met through Meghan's ex-husband Trevor Engelson, but have remained close ever since.

She said of her visit: 'Family time is just what the heart ordered, with a side of mashed peas and fish and chips. All of it has filled my heart.

'You've been so good to us. We're leaving with full hearts and definitely leaving a piece of ours here.'

It came as Prince Harry, who flew to New York this week, revealed the 'most British things' he and his family do since moving back to the UK.

Speaking to HELLO! at Monday's WellChild Awards in London, the Duke of Sussex, 42, said his children now enjoy Marmite on crumpets, despite previously 'dissing' him for keeping the spread in the house.

Asked about the most British thing he has done with his family now that they've moved back from California, he replied: 'Gone for a walk. Lots of walks. Isn't that the most British thing?'

He continued: 'OK yes Marmite on crumpets - please tell me that is a British thing because it has always been in my life and now the kids are eating Marmite on crumpets, which is a big moment for me.'

And asked whether Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, now enjoy the spread, Harry replied: 'They do, they do very much.

'They used to dis me for having Marmite in the house but now we are in the UK that is kind of water under the bridge.'

He added: 'I already tried beans on toast. That was in California. That was years ago. It didn't go down very well at all.'

Harry appeared to become emotional during the Royal Lancaster Hotel event, while revealing how becoming a father has changed the way he experiences the charity's annual event, which celebrates seriously ill children and the families caring for them.

'Once you become a parent it does change everything,' Harry said.

'It is not the fact that all the years I wasn't a parent, that meeting the kids didn't matter as much but you suddenly realise how grateful you are to have kids that are not sick.'

Harry also spoke about a particularly relatable moment at the breakfast table earlier that day, revealing that Archie and Lilibet had been suffering from the 'Monday blues' ahead of school.

'Breakfast this morning, they had Monday blues,' he said, comparing it to the 'Sunday night blues' he experienced before being sent away to boarding school.

But the duke managed to turn the mood around by explaining what he would be doing at the WellChild ceremony later that evening.

'You know what you are just being a little bit tricky so I am going to tell you what I am doing tonight and they were genuinely fascinated and interested and had all sorts of questions.'

Harry said he and Meghan want to use their work to help their children understand more about the lives of others, adding that now 'no longer being 5,000 miles away should make it easier to be more available to support the charities that need us and that we really enjoy working with'.

After a false start at one private school due to traffic on the school run, the children are now settled into a new school in the Midlands.