Plane smitten! Meghan Markle spotted alone in Heathrow airport after romantic week with Prince Harry

After a romantic pre-Christmas week spent with boyfriend Prince Harry, Suits actress Meghan Markle has headed back home after her latest jaunt in London.

The 35-year-old actress and activist was dropped off at Heathrow airport on Sunday afternoon (18 December) following a romantic UK break with the prince – in which the pair were spotted buying a Christmas tree and attending a play in London's West End.

Markle, who was born in California and lives in Toronto, Canada, appeared to be in high spirits as she was accompanied by airline staff prior to boarding her flight. The prince, 32, stayed behind and was guarded by five police protection officers after her departure.

Dressed casually and comfortably for her flight, the star was clad in a grey and pink printed star jumper, distressed skinny jeans, white trainers and a black coat which she topped off with a cosy beanie hat and a bright blue Mulberry bag.

Markle and Prince Harry have been seeing each other for several months and were most recently pictured out together in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, whereby they saw the critically acclaimed play, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at the Gielgud Theatre.

She is believed to have spent the week with Harry at his Kensington Palace cottage before flying home this weekend, just in time for the prince to join the rest of the Royal family at the Queen's Sandringham House in Norfolk for Christmas.

In related news, Harry has given an emotional interview for a new documentary where he speaks about the untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.

The royal, who was just 12 years old at the time of her death, opened up in ITV's latest documentary, Prince Harry In Africa. It marks the 10th anniversary of the Aids charity Sentebale which he set up in her memory.

"I never really dealt with what had happened," the 32-year-old royal said. "It was a lot of buried emotion. For a huge part of my life I didn't really want to think about it."