How Meghan Markle Kept Visit To Uvalde Blood Donor Center Under Wraps

“She went and picked up trays and trays of sandwiches and snacks and everything for the people who were coming in and giving blood. It was for our workers. It was for myself,” Rankin said. “It was for anybody that wanted to, you know, have lunch.”

When Meghan arrived, she said, the duchess’s security team did a sweep and then asked the director to meet her outside the center. “I did, and we visited for a few minutes. She did have her mask on. She kept it on the whole time. There were no cameras whatsoever.”

Rankin brought Meghan from the back door into the kitchen, where she was introduced as a volunteer.

“There was no ‘Look! It’s Meghan Markle!’ Nothing. And she introduced herself as Meghan,” Rankin said.

“She said, ‘My name is Meghan,’ and didn’t go into any more detail,” Rankin added. “She started passing out sandwiches to the people who were donating [blood] and it was, she was delightful.”

“I didn’t even tell my poor husband,” she said. “So when she came here, he walked in and he met her and she said, ‘Oh, you must be Jimmy!’”

A number of volunteers at the center told BuzzFeed News on Thursday that they had conversations with Meghan and didn’t know who she was until after she departed. Rankin confirmed this, saying that after the news that Meghan was in Uvalde spread, she was approached by several people at the center who chided her for not revealing Meghan’s identity while she was there.

“One of the nurses … came over to me and said, ‘I cannot believe you did not tell us Meghan Markle was here. We were standing right next to her,’” Rankin said. “And the head of the volunteer crew said, ‘I stood there and talked to her for 10 minutes. I had no idea.’ And I said, ‘That’s what they wanted. They didn’t want you to know that she was here.’”