The truth about harry & Meghan’s ‘fake’ royal tour – and why the palace are worried
Words by Emily Andrews
When the Duchess of Sussex met the Nigerian competitors at last year’s Invictus Games in Germany, they gave her a title: Warrior Princess. The name, Amira Ngozi Lolo, represents three different Nigerian regions: Amira is a warrior princess from Nigerian legend, while Ngozi means ‘blessed’ and Lolo signifies ‘royal wife’.
The honour was of special significance to Meghan, who had taken a genealogy test for an episode of her Archetypes podcast, which revealed that she is ‘43% Nigerian’.
So, when the veterans and Nigerian chief of the defence staff, General Christopher Musa, invited Harry and Meghan to visit their country this year, the couple were keen to make the trip.
While the visit gives Meghan a chance to discover more of her heritage, it is officially in aid of the Invictus Games, Harry’s Paralympic-style tournament for service personnel and veterans, a passion project and one of the most successful projects he has ever spearheaded. Nigeria has also indicated that they would like to host the games at some point.
Given their visit of Nigeria is set to take in tours of sports facilities, cultural events, meetings with the armed forces and appearances to promote mental health charities, many in Buckingham Palace have apparently raised eyebrows at what they’re calling a quasi-royal tour. The schedule certainly feels like something straight out of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s playbook circa 2019, when the then-working royals conducted a 10-day tour of Southern Africa. It was on that trip that new mum Meghan admitted to Tom Bradby that she was ‘not OK’, in a television interview that is now seen as a precursor to the couple’s decision to walk away from royal life.
But while Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria – a Commonwealth country that welcomed Charles and Diana with rapturous cheering crowds in 1990 – may appear royal, the British embassy in Nigeria’s capital Abuja has been quick to point out, politely but publicly, that they had no hand in organising the visit and the couple were not representing the United Kingdom. Royal tours are always at the behest of the UK Government and their purpose is to promote Brand Britain abroad.
Indeed, the Sussexes organised their own media for the trip. That means that instead of the royal rota of Palace-approved journalists who the couple have criticised for being in the pocket of the royal family, a select group of reporters will join Meghan and Harry – as well as camera operators from Netflix. The couple have recently landed two lucrative deals with the streaming giant: one will relaunch Meghan as a new gen Martha Stewart with a TV series on cooking, gardening and entertaining alongside her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard; the other will focus on Harry and his passion for polo.
‘Buckingham palace have apparently raised eyebrows’
As such, the couple will be hoping for a better reception than they got when they attended the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving in June 2022, when boos were heard from the crowd outside London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, muting the cheers. It was, therefore, notable that Meghan did not accompany Harry to this week’s celebration of Invictus’s 10-year anniversary at the same location – preferring instead to join him in Nigeria.
Harry has said in court documents that it is ‘too dangerous’ for his wife and children, five-year-old Archie and three-year-old Lilibet, to accompany him to the UK without Met Police security, which they lost when they ceased to be working royals.
Harry’s representatives say that is behind his decision to come to London alone – along with the fact that both have said they want to be involved parents, not leaving the kids alone in the US for too long.
But, in what was interpreted by many as a sign that relations between Harry and his family remain tricky, the duke did not meet his father. The Palace refused to be drawn, but Harry’s spokesman said, ‘In response to the many enquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme. The duke, of course, is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.’
The King did have a busy programme, with the first Buckingham Palace garden party, official meetings and an audience with PM Rishi Sunak, plus his ongoing cancer treatment, but given that Harry had given at least three months’ notice of his visit it is telling that father and son could not see each other. Neither did Harry see William, who carried out an investiture at Windsor.
But if Harry’s solo UK visit suggests that the green shoots of a reconciliation some had hoped for in light of his father and sister-in-law’s cancer diagnosis are premature, the Sussexes will have been cheered that they are still more than welcome in other parts of the world.
Derrick Cobbinah, a former British soldier, businessman and fundraiser who helped coordinate Nigeria’s Invictus debut last year, said Meghan had been ‘deeply touched’ by the team and their gift of traditional names. ‘She said she couldn’t wait to visit Nigeria for her mum and the kids,’ he said. And the feeling, it seems, was mutual.
Photo: Getty