Meghan Markle and Prince Harry help prepare food at Los Angeles bakery for those in need

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘rolled up their sleeves and deeply engaged with workers in the bakery and cafe’

Meghan and Harry joined members of Homeboy Industries on Tuesday in a cooking session for the organisation's Feed Hope programme, which provides food to those in need in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic (The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/PA Wire)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex rolled up their sleeves to help a bakery in Los Angeles prepare food for those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday 23 June, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry joined members of Homeboy Industries for a cooking session as part of the organisation’s Feed Hope programme.

Homeboy Industries, it states on its website, is the “largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry programme in the world”, having been founded in the late 1980s.

The organisation launched its Feed Hope programme through its Homegirl Café and Homeboy Bakery to provide food for the vulnerable in Los Angeles amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The duke and duchess joined around two dozen members of the Homeboy team to make pastries and prepare food parcels during their cooking session.

The couple were pictured wearing aprons, face masks and hair nets, in addition to wearing matching white shirts as they set to work.

Homeboy Industries is run by Father Greg Boyle, a Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit order.

Father Boyle first met Meghan 20 years ago, when she took part in a cooking workshop alongside her mother, Doria Ragland, during which they made tamales.

The Homeboy Industries founder works closely with Immaculate Heart High School, which the duchess attended during her school years growing up in California.

(The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/PA Wire (The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/PA Wire)

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were just ‘Harry and Meghan’ to the homies,” Father Boyle said of the cooking session attended by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“They rolled up their sleeves and deeply engaged with our workers in the bakery and cafe. It was immediate kinship and heartening in its mutuality.”

A spokesperson for Meghan and Prince Harry said that “the duchess mentioned that the spirit and style reminded her of the times she visited the Luminary Bakery in London”, an organisation that helps support disadvantaged women who have experienced poverty, homelessness, violence or criminal activity.

Mariana Enriquez, manager of Homegirl Cafe, said it was “remarkable” to share their Feed Hope programme with the duke and duchess.

(The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/PA Wire (The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/PA Wire)

“They are both down to earth and kind,” Ms Enriquez said.

“The staff was honoured they took the time to see us, hear us an walk on our journey today. We will never forget it.”

It was recently reported in the LA Times that Meghan and Prince Harry have signed with New York-based Harry Walker Agency for speaking engagements, the speaking agency that represents the Obamas and the Clintons.