Brian McDonald
Their first trip to Nigeria together could have been called a mini royal trip, but for the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, I don’t have “working like royalty” for a few years.
The couple – now residing in California – were warmly welcomed to the huge African nation on Friday. They were given traditional Nigerian wooden bead necklaces and then treated to a dance routine performed by the students at their first stop, the Lightway Academy, in the sprawling capital, Abuja.
There, Harry addressed one of his biggest causes: mental health.
KOLA SULAIMON/AFP/Getty
“If we take anything away from today, know that mental health affects everyone,” he told the students. “The more you talk about it, the more you can dispel the stigma.”
Their visit to the West African country takes on added significance for Meghan, who recently said on her Archetypes podcast that a genealogical test had revealed she is “43% Nigerian.” The couple has referenced their Nigerian ancestry since that revelation, and Meghan expressed her hope to “dig deeper” into her roots.
“My daughter Lili looked at me and said she could see her reflection in my eyes and said, ‘Mommy, I see myself in you and you in me’,” she told students in Abuja on Friday.
“When I look around this room, I see myself in all of you too,” she added, drawing applause from the crowd.
Andrew Esiebo/Getty Images for the Archewell Foundation
Harry and Meghan are in Nigeria at the invitation of the country’s military, visiting to discuss the future work of the prince’s Invictus Games Foundation. The charity helps injured military personnel and veterans through sport. Nigeria has a similar program and collaborates with Invictus.
The visit to Africa comes just days after Prince Harry was in London – alone – to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The stop in his former hometown sparked a wave of speculation about a possible reconciliation with the rest of his royal family in Britain.
But it wasn’t meant to be. He didn’t even meet his brother, Prince Williamnor did his father, King Charles III.
At one point, father and son were just two miles apart, attending separate events. According to a statement from the Duke of Sussex, a meeting was unfortunately not possible due to “Her Majesty’s full program” that day. She added that Harry hoped to see his father again soon.
King Charles is currently undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, but he has resumed some of its public functionssaying this week that he “was allowed out of his cage.”
Harry and Meghan were due to end their tour of Nigeria on Sunday after a cultural reception and a charity polo match for wounded war veterans.
Charlie D’Ágata
