Prince Harry, Meghan Markle visit family of Uvalde shooting victim after SXSW appearance

Members of the royal family spent their weekend in Texas, making appearances at South by Southwest, local restaurants and even a birthday party.

Birthday surprise for sister of Uvalde shooting victim

A day after the Duchess of Sussex participated in a SXSW panel, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a surprise visit to a birthday party. Claudia Martinez lost her sister, Irma Garcia, in the 2022 Uvalde shooting at Robb Elementary School. According to CNN, Garcia had been a school teacher for 23 years when she was fatally shot alongside 20 other victims.

Just two days after the horrific shooting, Irma's husband, Joe Garcia, died of a heart attack.

This wasn't the first time the family has met the royal couple, Irma's nephew John Martinez told CNN.

“It was such a beautiful experience, they’re so nice and compassionate, very down to earth, humble people,” Martinez told CNN via text message. “It was kind of by surprise, she [Meghan] had called my mom one random day and dropped the news on us not too long ago that she was coming to visit the kids and of course we got so excited."

Meghan also surprised Claudia Martinez with a cake. Prince Harry and his wife joined in singing "Happy Birthday" while Meghan presented the cake, a magical moment captured in a video by John Martinez.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get brisket at La Barbecue

Mid-afternoon on International Women's Day, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stopped for a bite to eat at one of the most famous woman-owned restaurants in Texas on their way out of Austin.

More: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit La Barbecue in Austin for some brisket during SXSW

Ali Clem and her late wife, LeAnn Mueller, opened La Barbecue on East Cesar Chavez Street in East Austin in 2012. The couple greeted Clem with big hugs when they stepped from their vehicle before surprising customers and taking photos on the patio around 3 p.m.

“We had a couple laughs and then talked about where our brisket came from and a little about the cooking process,” Clem told the American-Statesman. “We also talked about how competitive the barbecue world was specifically in Austin and a little about the barbecue community here in Austin and Texas.”

SXSW 2024 panel: International Women's Day

At the annual SXSW festival, powerful women led a panel on International Women's Day. The Duchess of Sussex was joined by Katie Couric, co-anchor of NBC's "The Today Show;" actress Brooke Shields; and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen for a panel moderated by The 19th News Editor-at-Large Errin Haines, to discuss the tribulations that girls and women face in social media, pop culture, film and television, in the lead-up to the 96th Academy Awards.

More: Here's what Meghan Markle, Katie Couric and Brooke Shields said at SXSW 2024 panel

In the panel titled "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen," the five successful women emphasized a collective responsibility for creating change.

"We have a responsibility and all of this systemic change has to happen at the same time as a cultural change is happening," Markle said in regards to the dangers of social media.

Her nonprofit organization, Archewell Foundation, founded alongside her husband, Prince Harry, sponsored a report on cultural portrayals of motherhood in television. The report found that most portrayals of mothers on television are young, white and thin.

"What's happening in the digital space in certain sectors of the media, we have forgotten about our humanity. ... And I understand that a lot of money is being made there. But even if it's making dollars, it doesn't make sense," Markle said. "At the end of the day, all people, but women especially, want to feel seen and want to feel heard."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry visit family of Uvalde shooting victim in Texas