The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 - July 2024

[muriel]

H&M have commenced their private tour of Nigeria.

Prince Harry and Meghan kick off Nigeria trip with visit to school

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met officials and children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Nigeria this morning, hours after their arrival at Abuja in the early hours.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A video of Meghan's speech in Abuja. Word salad?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1788875902018879558

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

this makes me cringe. the pretenders on royal self-promoting tour. mention of diana, check.

 

[iceflower]

Here are some more photos of today:


** gettyimages: NGA: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Visit Nigeria - Day 1 **

Harry et Meghan accueillis dans la joie au Nigeria

EN IMAGES - Les Sussex sont arrivés au Nigeria pour un voyage - non officiel - de trois jours. À peine arrivés à Abuja vendredi 10 mai au matin, le prince Harry et Meghan Markle avaient rendez-vous dans une école locale soutenue par leur fondation.

www.parismatch.com

 

[shady lady]

this makes me cringe. the pretenders on royal self-promoting tour. mention of diana, check.

She doesn't come across as sincere at all. Especially the bit where talks about being honest

 

[chen bao jun]

There is definitely a way back for the Duke and Duchess.
I don't mean a way to build back their 'brand' and make money but to rebuild their relationships and regain other's respect and their own self respect.
The Nigerian tour is nonsense. It's supposed to make people ignore the fact that they burned all these bridges in Britain where they were real royalty and part of an organized system where they could do good. The system is not perfect and requires a lot of hard work in return for a little (surprisingly little) glamour. Diana worked within this system, even after being divorced and put in sweat for years and it's because of that that she managed to make changes in the way they did things that needed to be changed.
Meghan and Harry threw out the baby with the bathwater and said things that remain out there that threaten the system greatly. This is totally outside of the personal relationships in the family, where as I said before, all probably bear some fault. This is just what they did to 'the Firm.'
Now Harry is out there with this one thing, Invictus, which mostly at this point shows what he's capable of and no longer has an opportunity to do, and Meghan is flitting around unmoored from all advice and giving a sound bite here and a sound bite there, in the midst of a lot of failing self promotion and we get things like this tour.
Nigeria is in horrible shape https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1241997352/nigeria-kidnap-mass-abduction-chibok-girls
1,000 people kidnapped in the last few months. Sickening murders by the Fulani tribesmen. Look it up. Though much of it is not in the news. The Duke and Duchess's 'tour' promotes selves, glosses all this over and gives a failing regime positive publicity and does no long term good. They are capable of more for sure. There may not be a way back into the royal family as a 'Firm' (though hopefully there is eventually into the family as a family) but if they really truly want to do good outside of the family, as in 'service is for everyone ' they need to take a long hard long at what they have done wrong up to this point and I think look at what the Royal Family does right, take some advice (there was a good post on this awhile back) and make up their minds to do a lot of slogging, grinding work, comebacks are possible but take a while and aren't easy.
They also should focus on what's possible. Her Majesty the Late Queen was very right. Half in, half out does not work. You can't both run a charitable organization well on your own and be a Hollywood star/influencer at the same time; you have to decide which you really want to do and keep at it.

 

[Blog Real]

Videos from the visit to Nigeria:

Links:

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle visit Nigeria, share mental health message with students

Harry and Meghan are spending three days in Nigeria.

abcnews.go.com

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Step Out in Nigeria with a Message for Kids: 'There Is No Need to Suffer in Silence'

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are kicking off their first outing in Nigeria with a special school visit in the country's capital Abuja.

people.com

Prince Harry receives emotional gift as Meghan Markle gives update on Archie and Lilibet on day one of Nigeria trip - best photos

The couple began their three-day trip to Nigeria on Friday

www.hellomagazine.com

 

[Toledo]

I need to look away. I just saw the video of her being introduced to the school delegation and when she gets to the beautiful and statuesque lady, the one with the long hair on the shoulder, she is talking to the duchess and Mrs. M turns her face toward the camera ignoring the young lady in her mid-sentence. So she continued talking to the back of Meghan's head while she smiled for photos.

Every time I try to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope to write a positive remark once she's released in her element, the sea of paparazzies she vents they run away from, the look-at-me-only switch turns On and she stays to be in front of the paparazzi and Harry on the horizon as her backdrop.

If I recall my manners taught by family, the gentleman escorts the lady toward the left side. I remember this was a tradition from the Middle Ages in Italy where the lady walks toward the inside to protect her from falling...water and other things in pots.
This power balance is so reversed at times I think she was the member of a royal family Harry married into.

Not aside, the white dress suit she wore looks nice for the other event.

 

[carlota]

I need to look away. I just saw the video of her being introduced to the school delegation and when she gets to the beautiful and statuesque lady, the one with the long hair on the shoulder, she is talking to the duchess and Mrs. M turns her face toward the camera ignoring the young lady in her mid-sentence. So she continued talking to the back of Meghan's head while she smiled for photos.

not sure which video this refers too, but... yuck. that is horrible behaviour. sadly, it is the vibe i get from MM regularly. it is 99% about HER - not about the causes she's supporting.

Who is paying for security for the trip? Is it Nigeria? If it is, what is the public response to that?

excellent question. they make such a fuss about their security in the UK, yet they are happy to go to a country where kidnappings are common place with no issues (either paying for their own security, or allow a third world country they visit on a non official capacity to foot the bill). welcome again to the world of incongruence that is the sussexes.

Another thought that has occurred to me is that hosting the Invictus games in Nigeria could be an issue for LGBT veterans and visitors to the games, as LGBT rights there are pretty much non-existent. It's worth remembering the issues with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

it is obvious to me that the likelihood of nigeria having hosted invictus would have been slim. perhaps because they reached out to H&M and toured them, harry may have the power to influence this, so my guess is nigeria wanted the clout that having them over and that hosting invictus would give them, whilst H&M get to portray themselves to the world as if they were 'the alternative RF'.

 

[shady lady]

I need to look away. I just saw the video of her being introduced to the school delegation and when she gets to the beautiful and statuesque lady, the one with the long hair on the shoulder, she is talking to the duchess and Mrs. M turns her face toward the camera ignoring the young lady in her mid-sentence. So she continued talking to the back of Meghan's head while she smiled for photos.

Every time I try to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope to write a positive remark once she's released in her element, the sea of paparazzies she vents they run away from, the look-at-me-only switch turns On and she stays to be in front of the paparazzi and Harry on the horizon as her backdrop.

If I recall my manners taught by family, the gentleman escorts the lady toward the left side. I remember this was a tradition from the Middle Ages in Italy where the lady walks toward the inside to protect her from falling...water and other things in pots.
This power balance is so reversed at times I think she was the member of a royal family Harry married into.

Not aside, the white dress suit she wore looks nice for the other event.

Well this is it. Very rude and utterly selfish. Unless something significant happens e.g. the Nigerians get fed up with them and send them home early I've decided to boycott following the rest of this faux-royal joke of a tour. See you soon everyone!

 

[OwlBranch]

I need to look away. I just saw the video of her being introduced to the school delegation and when she gets to the beautiful and statuesque lady, the one with the long hair on the shoulder, she is talking to the duchess and Mrs. M turns her face toward the camera ignoring the young lady in her mid-sentence. So she continued talking to the back of Meghan's head while she smiled for photos.

As if often the case, with H&M, people see what they want to see. I don't see anything out of the ordinary in the video that upset Toledo, unless I'm looking at a different video?

I was only able to view the second video posted by "Blog Real" (Thank you!). The one created by News 18, and is about 7min long. This video has been edited and does not follow a strict chronological order, for example there are interviews with students that obviously happened after H&M has left that has been placed in the middle of the video. I think the issue raised by "Toledo" happens between 4.43 and 4.53. (But let me know if I'm wrong!).

So less than 10sec on a 7min long video. There is no audio, so we don't know what is being said and therefore do not have the full context of the interaction.
- The lady with long hair and off-shoulder dress is speaking to Harry
- Meghan is standing behind Harry, waiting for them to finish talking
- Meghan raised her hand/arm while making a comment
- The lady responded to Meghan's comment by raising her arm as well, make sort of a sweeping gesture with her hand. Maybe she was pointing something out? For example: There are a group of dancers right behind them at that moment. Later on, after H&M finish with their greetings, they stood and watched the performance for a bit (which is shown around 1.14 mark in the video). There are also lots of students standing right off camera, which is shown around 4.53 mark.

This seems perfect normal.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

It's good to see that during their Nigerian visit, TRH The Sussexes are able to highlight causes that are important to them: mental health for everyone in general and veterans in particular, physical health for veterans, and female empowerment.

 

[Anna1519]

Catching up on the trip so far and this caught my eye: Harry made a solo visit to the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna today, meeting with around 50 soldiers and discussing the possibility of participating in the Invictus Games in the future. He really is in his element with his fellow servicemembers. Particularly loved this bit from a soldier Harry encouraged to try out for the Games: "As Harry left the ward, Yusef was doing push-ups on the bed to show his motivation to get ready."

Also just saw this beautiful shot of Harry and a Nigerian military veteran taken by Misan Harriman during the visit.

 

[Hallo girl]

Catching up on the trip so far and this caught my eye: Harry made a solo visit to the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna today, meeting with around 50 soldiers and discussing the possibility of participating in the Invictus Games in the future. He really is in his element with his fellow servicemembers. Particularly loved this bit from a soldier Harry encouraged to try out for the Games: "As Harry left the ward, Yusef was doing push-ups on the bed to show his motivation to get ready."

Also just saw this beautiful shot of Harry and a Nigerian military veteran taken by Misan Harriman during the visit.

So they take a personal photographer with them, Interesting.

 

[HRHHermione]

So they take a personal photographer with them, Interesting.

Yes, I have to say that I find bringing a personal photographer in to patient wards to take what are essentially marketing photographs of the couple profoundly distasteful.

I hope the individuals pictured at least consented to having the photographs taken and released.

 

[Anna1519]

Yes, I have to say that I find bringing a personal photographer in to patient wards to take what are essentially marketing photographs of the couple profoundly distasteful.

I hope the individuals pictured at least consented to having the photographs taken and released.

If you are going to make an allegation that the pictures were taken without consent and as a means for Harry and Misan to exploit injured servicemembers for profit and personal gain, I think it would be fair to share the evidence to support that. I'd love to see it, personally.

I know I said this earlier in this thread in response to someone who accused Meghan of exploiting children with cancer for PR purposes because there happened to be a photographer present but just because there are pictures taken doesn't invalidate the meaning behind the visit. I'm sure many public figures who undertake charitable visits would agree - including those who are particularly sanctified on this website.

 

[Stefanie]

They always understand how to seek attention and let it look like they would work for the "firm"....

 

[HenRach Dominion]

I really appreciate how in HRH The Duke of Sussex's speech at the school, he said that it's okay not to be okay. I truly believe that the long-held belief that expressing your emotions, especially negative ones, is a weakness or a burden to others, is why there is so much poor mental health in the first place.

It's cool that some of the veterans at the army hospital were inspired by HRH The Duke of Sussex's visit. I would imagine any happiness they could receive under the circumstances would be meaningful.

Someone on the site formerly known as Twitter pointed out how TRH The Sussexes suits during their visit with the Nigerian military were the colors of the Nigerian flag, which is pretty cool.

Overall, it looks like their first day was a success. The people they visited seem to have enjoyed them being there. On to Day 2 then!

 

[ACO]

Seems it’s going very well. And based on the locals and media—- they are loving it.

 

[HRHHermione]

If you are going to make an allegation that the pictures were taken without consent and as a means for Harry and Misan to exploit injured servicemembers for profit and personal gain, I think it would be fair to share the evidence to support that. I'd love to see it, personally.

I know I said this earlier in this thread in response to someone who accused Meghan of exploiting children with cancer for PR purposes because there happened to be a photographer present but just because there are pictures taken doesn't invalidate the meaning behind the visit. I'm sure many public figures who undertake charitable visits would agree - including those who are particularly sanctified on this website.

I did not make an allegation. I am acknowledging that there are enormous power disparities in countries with high levels of poverty and that these power disparities should be thoughtfully approached. I have not seen any evidence so far that they are being thoughtfully approached on this tour.

I am also stating my personal opinion that I find it distasteful to bring not a press photographer but a personal photographer to release flattering photos of the Sussex couple on visits with people who are injured in hospital. I stand by this opinion.

 

[Anna1519]

I am personally uncomfortable assuming that the individuals who were both photographed and interviewed had no agency in deciding whether or not to participate in this visit and don't really see how that directly correlates to Nigeria's poverty rates. The entire point of the visit is to garner public support for more Nigerian participation in the Invictus Games and shine a line on rehabilitating their servicemembers. I stand by that opinion too. I really don't understand how every single move they make is viewed in a nefarious light but I'll leave my thoughts there.

I really appreciate how in HRH The Duke of Sussex's speech at the school, he said that it's okay not to be okay. I truly believe that the long-held belief that expressing your emotions, especially negative ones, is a weakness or a burden to others, is why there is so much poor mental health in the first place.

It's cool that some of the veterans at the army hospital were inspired by HRH The Duke of Sussex's visit. I would imagine any happiness they could receive under the circumstances would be meaningful.

Someone on the site formerly known as Twitter pointed out how TRH The Sussexes suits during their visit with the Nigerian military were the colors of the Nigerian flag, which is pretty cool.

Overall, it looks like their first day was a success. The people they visited seem to have enjoyed them being there. On to Day 2 then!

I saw a similar post on Twitter about the color coordination. One of them made me laugh - something along the lines of "Harry's come a long way from the days of blue suits and holes in his shoes."

Looking forward to day 2 as well. I am curious if there will be any announcement at the end of the visit about more involvement of Team Nigeria in future Games' or an update on the possibility of hosting in the future.

 

[MonacoRoyalFan]

Sussexes’ Nigeria trip is a royal tour – on their terms

Great article. They have much to offer. I am glad they are in Nigeria.

 

[HRHHermione]

don't really see how that directly correlates to Nigeria's poverty rates.

I’m not sure how many people are aware, but Misan Harriman is from an extremely wealthy Nigerian family, and has for years worked to bring a glitzier image to Nigeria to facilitate business dealings. This predates his friendship with the Sussex couple by many years. Knowing that, I have always viewed his friendship with them in that light and I see his participation in this tour as an extension of his business interests. When I see the family member of oligarchs marketing images of his friend the Prince meeting the poor, my academic and business background informs how I view it, which is with skepticism. It does not necessarily mean anything awful is happening, but I’m wary of viewing anything involving people that are wealthy in a country with that much poverty (and therefore exploitation) without keeping that in the back of my head.

I would be more comfortable with the images had they been taken by a neutral press photographer who does not have a vested interest in marketing this tour or a friend.

I would also be more comfortable if the people being photographed were being interviewed and given space to tell their own stories.

You can look at this tour and see inspirational content. That’s ok, that’s a personal opinion.

Mine is that none of it feels quite right and something about it makes me uncomfortable. That’s also a personal opinion.

 

[shady lady]

I’m not sure how many people are aware, but Misan Harriman is from an extremely wealthy Nigerian family, and has for years worked to bring a glitzier image to Nigeria to facilitate business dealings. This predates his friendship with the Sussex couple by many years. Knowing that, I have always viewed his friendship with them in that light and I see his participation in this tour as an extension of his business interests. When I see the family member of oligarchs marketing images of his friend the Prince meeting the poor, my academic and business background informs how I view it, which is with skepticism. It does not necessarily mean anything awful is happening, but I’m wary of viewing anything involving people that are wealthy in a country with that much poverty (and therefore exploitation) without keeping that in the back of my head.

I would be more comfortable with the images had they been taken by a neutral press photographer who does not have a vested interest in marketing this tour or a friend.

I would also be more comfortable if the people being photographed were being interviewed and given space to tell their own stories.

You can look at this tour and see inspirational content. That’s ok, that’s a personal opinion.

Mine is that none of it feels quite right and something about it makes me uncomfortable. That’s also a personal opinion.

As I said in my last post I am taking a hiatus from posting for a few days but I wanted to say thank you HRH Hermione for saying exactly how I feel about the whole thing.

To me it all seems so incredibly…fake.

Time for a reality check!

 

[HenRach Dominion]

Sussexes’ Nigeria trip is a royal tour – on their terms

Great article. They have much to offer. I am glad they are in Nigeria.

Thank you for the article, MonacoRoyalFan. This was a great read.

After some growing pains, it seems as though TRH The Sussexes are finding a balance in what they want to do with their lives. They get to focus on their philanthropic efforts, build their commercial interests, and maintain privacy for their personal lives and especially those of their children. Good for them.

 

[Anna1519]

I’m not sure how many people are aware, but Misan Harriman is from an extremely wealthy Nigerian family, and has for years worked to bring a glitzier image to Nigeria to facilitate business dealings. This predates his friendship with the Sussex couple by many years. Knowing that, I have always viewed his friendship with them in that light and I see his participation in this tour as an extension of his business interests. When I see the family member of oligarchs marketing images of his friend the Prince meeting the poor, my academic and business background informs how I view it, which is with skepticism. It does not necessarily mean anything awful is happening, but I’m wary of viewing anything involving people that are wealthy in a country with that much poverty (and therefore exploitation) without keeping that in the back of my head.

I would be more comfortable with the images had they been taken by a neutral press photographer who does not have a vested interest in marketing this tour or a friend.

I would also be more comfortable if the people being photographed were being interviewed and given space to tell their own stories.

You can look at this tour and see inspirational content. That’s ok, that’s a personal opinion.

Mine is that none of it feels quite right and something about it makes me uncomfortable. That’s also a personal opinion.

Thanks for sharing. I am not familiar enough with Misan's background to comment - my knowledge of him is that he photographs Harry and Meghan in a largely personal capacity but has also done work at professional events like Invictus (I believe he was present at the 2025 launch in February as well as the games in Germany - not sure beyond that). I would be curious as to what business dealings he is trying to facilitate.

I'm not so naive to think even well-intentioned/inspirational causes are free of corruption or some level of self-promotion (Africa Parks, for one) but I'm more comfortable with this visit because it was specifically proposed by the Nigerian government and not foisted upon them by Harry/IG. It's also serving a legitimate need as opposed to being some kind of exploitative,"just for show" visit - in the lead-up to this visit, I read a few articles on how Nigeria is trying to improve life for veterans and servicemembers even outside of Invictus.

The PEOPLE article does include more details about the individual stories/situations of some of the soldiers Harry met with and some direct quotes from them as well on how they feel this benefits them. I think Harry and Meghan's personal website could have focused a little more on this but the article did a good job. I only wish they had included more stories.

 

[Leopoldine]

I may be way off here, but here goes.

Nigeria's biggest trade partner is the UK. In the past few years, the volume of business with the UK has been on the decline. Still the biggest trade partner, but less volume.

Could it be that Nigeria inviting H and M is a bit of aggro directed at the UK gov't to get their attention and get the amount of commercial trade up to previous levels at the very least?

 

[FigTree]

Sussexes’ Nigeria trip is a royal tour – on their terms

Great article. They have much to offer. I am glad they are in Nigeria.

I didn't like the article. Logically, what they are doing makes no sense. Royals do these tours as essentially diplomats, in order to promote their countries relationship with the touring country. Here it's just two people, the man being the figurative head of a supporting competition for injured veterans, swanning around being treated like royalty. Basically being promoted as royal because that's the only thing about them.
If this is what they wanted, it'd be better to stay working. Deeply bizarre. Unless Bill Gates, who gives millions to charity,.gets similar responses? I'm sorry but I'm not like good for them, they are there because he's the Kings son. Also, realistically, there won't be many of these. What's next an invite to Russia?

 

[tommy100]

Whilst they are free to do as they please, the Nigerian military is "less than clean", shall we say. The more I see the more I think it is going to come back and bite them.

 

[Mbruno]

I didn't like the article. Logically, what they are doing makes no sense. Royals do these tours as essentially diplomats, in order to promote their countries relationship with the touring country. Here it's just two people, the man being the figurative head of a supporting competition for injured veterans, swanning around being treated like royalty. Basically being promoted as royal because that's the only thing about them.
If this is what they wanted, it'd be better to stay working. Deeply bizarre. Unless Bill Gates, who gives millions to charity,.gets similar responses? I'm sorry but I'm not like good for them, they are there because he's the Kings son. Also, realistically, there won't be many of these. What's next an invite to Russia?

I agree it is deeply bizarre for 2 private individuals who are no longer working royals to go on a pretend royal tour. I would understand if Harry was in Nigeria to participate in Invictus-related events only (as he is, at least figuratively, still associated with Invictus) , but the rest of the program is puzzling to me.

I also agree that this fake royal tour doesn't look good on the couple and will probably contribute to the Sussexes being further ostracized in the UK or even in the US.

 

[Nico]

In their minds they are forming a parallel "we can do it better" Court. Diana, in her times, just wanted to do that. Kudos to them to achieve this legacy of the late Princess of Wales.

All seems pretty and nice. Until reality will come knoking at their door. And it will. You can"t parade yourself in semi official/private/whatever capacity deprived of any diplomatic credentials without any consequences. I bet the Foreign Office is watching them very carefully right now and the BRF is well aware of that.

Are the Sussexes naives or desperate of any visibility ? I guess, in some levels, both. Anyway it's a dangerous game because they are obviously becoming some kind of lever of action from some countries to gain the UK's, if not the World's attention. For the UK diplomacy (and don't tell me they are citizens of World, they are holding British titles for Pete's sake) it's a problem. All things considered, the unfamous Windsors 1937 Germany tour comes to mind and i will not be suprised, in the challenging, twisted world we are living in, that the Sussexes could be snatched at some point by less than stellar foreign interests. Making marmalade in your garden is one thing, playing on the World stage is another ...

What strikes me the most here and there in all this Sussexes oupla is all the negativy they bring around them. Not the negativity AGAINST THEM mind you , but their capacity to federate all kind of frustrations on various topics : anti Charles and Camilla, anti Williman and Catherine, anti Monarchy, anti establishment , anti UK, anti White privilege etc. I don't know what to think for now of this peculiar mishmash, but i'm pretty sure some ill intented minds (if not the Sussexes themselves ?) perfectly know what to do with it.