(CNN) It is a staple of British royal life -- an outdoor meet-and-greet with enthusiastic locals, often in relatively mundane locations, and replete with potential pitfalls.

Less than a week after her engagement to Britain's Prince Harry was announced, the American actor Meghan Markle got her first taste of the "walkabout" on Friday, in near-freezing temperatures in the English city of Nottingham.

Markle had declared in a TV interview on Monday that she was keen to get her "boots on the ground" in Britain -- and she got her wish on Friday, emerging from a limousine with Harry for their first official royal event together.

Prince Harry and fiancee Meghan Markle attend the Terrance Higgins Trust World AIDS Day charity fair in Nottingham on Friday.

It will be the first of many such engagements that Markle will undertake: On Friday she carried out her duties with enthusiasm, gripping the hands of cheering crowds as they lined the short route.

Everything went to plan -- there were no awkward encounters, the snow that has buffeted some parts of the UK this week held off, and Markle seemed to be at ease with the flag-waving and camera-wielding residents of Nottingham who had gathered since early in the day to secure the best spots.

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