Meghan Markle poses for selfies as she makes surprise California appearance without Prince Harry

Meghan Markle made an unexpected appearance at a Girl Scout camp in Ojai, California, on Wednesday evening, treating young campers to an advance screening of her forthcoming documentary, Cookie Queens.

Meghan, 44, arrived at Camp Arnaz - situated less than an hour's drive from the family home she shares with Prince Harry in Montecito - alongside the film's director, Alysa Nahmias.

The pair posed for photographs with campers and several of the Girl Scouts who appear in the documentary before the screening took place.

"You never know who might show up for a screening of @cookiequeensfilm!" Mrs Nahmias wrote on her Instagram story, accompanied by a group photograph taken at sunset.

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The visit marked a personal homecoming of sorts for the former actress, who was herself a Girl Scout as a child.

Cookie Queens is executive produced by both Meghan and Prince Harry, 41. The documentary follows four young Girl Scouts - Olive, Nikki, Shannon Elizabeth and Ara - as they navigate the fiercely competitive annual cookie-selling season.

Each scout establishes her own sales targets, encountering both setbacks and triumphs throughout the process.

The film first debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, though it took some months thereafter to secure a distribution deal.

Roadside Attractions ultimately picked up the documentary, with a theatrical release scheduled for August 7.

Mrs Nahmias described the partnership as ideal, noting that Roadside Attractions' dedication to theatrical storytelling made them "the perfect home to bring this film to audiences nationwide."

Meghan's involvement in the project was deeply rooted in her own childhood, during which her mother, Doria Ragland, led her Girl Scout troop.

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"As a former Girl Scout myself, with my mom as my troop leader, I have a personal affinity for this film and am proud that Archewell Productions has partnered with this award-winning team to executive produce this incredibly captivating film," she said in a March press release announcing the distribution deal.

She praised director Mrs Nahmias's vision, calling the behind-the-scenes glimpse into cookie season "absolutely irresistible."

Speaking at Sundance earlier this year, the Duchess offered a bold assessment of the documentary's significance.

"Yes, it's probably the cutest film at the festival," she told the audience. "But I'm also going to go out on a limb and say it's one of the most powerful and meaningful depictions of an American tradition."

On Tuesday, the duchess attended the debut screening of the documentary, followed be a Q&A session.

There, when asked how she motivates herself during "tough moments," the duchess said she draws on something Harry told her "ages ago," rooted in his 10 years flying helicopters for the British Army.

"Sometimes on really hard days, we were once, he said, 'Hey, but my love, you know, even if there's a storm happening above the storm, the sun's always shining,'" Meghan told the audience.

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