Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a surprise visit to the family of a teacher who was killed in a Texas school shooting.
This week, the Royal couple visited the late fourth-grade teacher Irma Garcia’s sister, Claudia Martinez, and her family during their Texas trip.
Irma was one of 21 people - two teachers and 19 children - killed by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos who walked into Uvalde's Robb Elementary School and began shooting in May 2022.
In a bid to allow her young students to get to safety, the teacher - who had worked in the school for 23 years - sacrificed her own life. Two days later, her husband of 24 years sadly died from a heart attack.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the birthday festivities for the late teacher's sister, with footage shared on social media showing Meghan leading the holding out a cake and singing Happy Birthday.
"Is everyone singing too?" the 42-year-old quipped as she realized no one else was joining in the song. As the family laughed and teased that she would have to sing alone, Meghan called out "my love" to the 39-year-old prince who nodded to confirm he would join her.
The couple then sang together with about 10 family members, including Garcia's young nieces and nephews.
Watch the sweet moment below:Garcia’s nephew, John Martinez, shared a subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter) expressing his gratitude to the couple.
"Before I take a small break I just wanna say how grateful I am that Meghan and Harry took their time out of their busy schedules to visit with Irma and Joe’s kids," he penned. "It meant so so so much to them and us, and thank you to all the continued love and support from their supporters."
John posted photos of the royals' visit to their house, saying that he could not believe the Sussexes "came to check up on the family," and adding that "they’re such a beautiful couple and I’m so blessed".
The Duchess flew down to Uvalde only two days after the second-deadliest elementary school shooting in US history.
During her solemn visit, the mother of two visited a memorial for the victims, where she paid her condolences and laid a bouquet of white roses tied with a purple ribbon at the cross for 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Sussexes said that Markle went there unannounced to privately pay tribute. After the visit, it is believed she went to the Herby Ham Activity Center, delivering crates of food and drinks to blood donors, per Daily Mail.
The couple had "kept in touch" with the Garcia family regularly since the horrific tragedy, as revealed by John during his interview with Hello Magazine.
"They keep in touch every other month, sometimes a little longer, but with their busy lives, them visiting truly felt more special," he told the publication.
The nephew of the late teacher said "It truly meant the world that Harry and Meghan showed up to visit the family, there were lots of tears of joy and heartfelt moments," adding: "They were the kindest, most humble people ever, it was like having family and friends over, having an amazing time together. They fit right in, we laughed a lot and shared intimate memories together."