Meghan Markle opts for $1,490 Carolina Herrera cardigan – emblazoned with poppies – and repeats a $398 skirt to meet veterans in San Diego – before heading to opening of veteran centre in $4,690 Giorgio Armani suit

Meghan Markle opted for a $1490 Carolina Hererra cardigan – emblazoned with poppies – to meet with military veterans and their families at Camp Pendleton in San Diego on Wednesday.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, paired the cardigan with a repeated $398 Rafferty’ Midi Skirt in Black.

Both Meghan and her husband Prince Harry wore Royal British Legion poppies as they cut the ribbon on a new fitness centre for veterans.

Meghan then changed into a $3,095 Giorgia Armani Mulberry Silk Single-Breasted Jacket in black, which she paired with matching $1,595 trousers from the same line. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Navy SEAL Foundation for the official opening of a new veterans training facility, known as the ‘warrior fitness programme’, ahead of Veterans Day on November 11.

Meghan Markle opted for a $1490 Carolina Hererra cardigan – emblazoned with poppies – to meet with military veterans and their families at Camp Pendleton in San Diego on Wednesday 

Meghan then changed into a $3,095 Giorgia Armani Mulberry Silk Single-Breasted Jacket in black, which she paired with matching $1,595 trousers from the same line

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Navy SEAL Foundation for the official opening of a new veterans training facility, known as the ‘warrior fitness programme’, ahead of Veterans Day on November 11

Meghan appropriately opted for a poppy cardigan for the outing

Meghan is a fan of Giorgio Armani suits and often opts for the Italian designer for business chic looks.

Meanwhile, Meghan’s skirt was previously worn for a secret visit to a home for military families ahead of the Invictus Games.

The pair’s visit to the Marine base at Pendleton was announced on Wednesday by the website of their foundation, Archewell.

Archewell said that they ‘spent the morning with veteran and activeduty service members and their loved-ones at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.’

The pair were pictured with around a dozen people at a discussion table, and according to Archewell learned about the work of Operation Bigs, a mentoring program set up in 2004.

The scheme connects military children and families with others who have gone through similar experiences.

Pioneered by Camp Pendleton, it has in the last nine years served more than 3,000 Navy and Marine Corps children, according to Archewell, and has expanded to over 30 affiliates across the country.

The prince, 39, spent a decade in the British Army, serving two tours of Afghanistan.

Harry and Meghan  spent the morning with veteran and active duty service members

The pair were pictured with around a dozen people at a discussion table, and according to Archewell learned about the work of Operation Bigs, a mentoring program set up in 2004

Prince Harry, with a Remembrance Day poppy in his lapel, is pictured talking to a guest at Wednesday’s event

He and his wife have spent previous Veterans’ Days on military sites: in 2021, they were at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, and in 2020 visited a military cemetery in Los Angeles.

Last year Harry visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

After visiting Camp Pendleton, Meghan and Harry then travelled to downtown San Diego to open up a new gym for Navy SEALs and veterans wounded in combat.

The 20,000-square-foot Warrior Fitness Program West Coast Facility is the second site to open, after a Virginia Beach facility launched in 2017.

The foundation already has helped more than 800 active-duty and veteran SEALs and surface warfare combatant crewman.

Both sites now have advanced technology, equipment and personnel, The Times of San Diego reported, designed to help with physical and mental recovery.

‘We’re thrilled that the Duke and Duchess are here,’ said Tony Duynstee, a former SEAL who spoke for the SEAL Foundation.

‘It’s quite an honor for them to be here for the commissioning.’

Duynstee said that they aimed to provide holistic recovery programs.

‘It’s not just physical,’ he said on Wednesday, showing the media around the site.

‘It’s not just shoulders and knees and back. It’s so much more than that.

‘It’s mental health, it’s emotional health. It’s bringing people back into community, teaching the right habits starting with the basics like nutrition and sleep.’

Duynstee pointed out that SEALs have had ‘very heavy sustained combat engagement’ for 20 years or more.

After visiting Camp Pendleton, Meghan and Harry then travelled to downtown San Diego to open up a new gym for Navy SEALs and veterans wounded in combat

The 20,000-square-foot Warrior Fitness Program West Coast Facility is the second site to open, after a Virginia Beach facility launched in 2017

The pair cut the ribbon at the California centre

Those using the site will have access to conditioning coaches, performance dietitians, speech pathologists, chiropractors, and myofascial release and breathing experts, the paper reported.

The experts will address issues like chronic pain, cognitive decline, proper nutrition, sleep disruption and societal reconnection.

It will also help SEALs return to civilian life

‘It’s so hard when you transition,’ Duynstee said.

‘I transitioned about 15 years ago and you have to re-find your purpose. And so that is a major.

‘So when they come back here, they re-engage with their fellows in the gym — and that spirit, the morale, is a big booster beyond just learning how to repair themselves physically — so much more around emotional health and mental health.’

He said the knock-on effects were huge.

If you can stop chronic pain, ‘that makes the marriage better and that makes that parent a better father. And so there are direct impacts to the family and wellness,’ he said.

And Duynstee praised the pair for their work on mental health.

He said they have ‘really destigmatized mental health issues for those who have gone through military service, and they’ve done that with courage and it just great validation to have them here.’

It came as across the Atlantic, tensions continued to simmer with Harry’s family with experts claiming ‘the rift in the Royal Family could not be wider’. 

The Duke of Sussex‘s spokesman slammed reports Harry had snubbed his father’s 75th birthday party next week, claiming he was never invited.

Prince Harry did a stand-up comedy video for a charity event in New York on Monday night, with a video released in the UK just before his father set off to give his first King’s Speech to Parliament. 

Meanwhile,  William delivered a pitch to be King as he insisted he wants to ‘go a step further’ than his family and bring real change to the causes he supports.

The Prince of Wales praised the work of other Royal Family members ‘spotlighting’ important causes, but insisted he wanted to do more than ‘just being’ a patron.

William’s remarks as his visit to Singapore comes to a close will likely raise eyebrows at Buckingham Palace as he continues to set out a vision for the monarchy’s future.