Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will begin their tour to Nigeria tomorrow as they visit the country’s military headquarters and promote the Invictus Games.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in the morning ahead of their first engagement, which will be a visit to the Nigerian Defense Headquarters in Abuja.
Authorities in Nigeria said the couple’s trip will be “private” in nature and will extend until Monday, and will also include a visit to Lagos. They are expected to meet Invictus Games competitors, visit a sports rehabilitation center and have photo sessions with soldiers.
Meghan will endure a grueling flight from Los Angeles to Lagos or Abuja as she joins her husband Harry in the coming hours for their three-day visit.
The duchess has six main options if she flies on a commercial plane from Los Angeles International Airport to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos today.
These involve a change in Washington DC, Atlanta, Paris, Istanbul, Doha or even London, where he could meet Harry before flying to Nigeria. Harry is said to be flying alone to Nigeria to join her in the country, but this is unconfirmed.
The duke has been in London since Tuesday, where he has attended several events related to the competition, including a church service yesterday at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Harry is believed to be traveling to Nigeria today, and Meghan is expected to arrive there from California. It’s also not known how the Duchess gets there – there are a variety of long and complicated routes available to choose from.
Prince Harry and Meghan, photographed in South Africa in 2019, will visit Nigeria this week
King Charles III during a visit to Gibraltar Barracks in Minley, Hampshire, this afternoon
The fastest flight is through Washington Dulles Airport with United Airlines, which takes 17 hours and 35 minutes, including a two-hour, 10-minute changeover. A cheap single costs £1,651. Premium economy class costs £3,971, while business class costs £4,805.
The next fastest option is with Delta Airlines via Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, which takes 17 hours and 45 minutes with a two-hour, 20-minute stop. Economy seats cost £1,577, while a space in the Delta One premium area costs £4,826.
The cheapest option for the route is with Qatar Airways via Hamad Airport in Doha for just £617 for an economy seat, but it would be a mammoth journey lasting 32 hours and 40 minutes with a stopover of eight hours and 45 minutes.
Another cheaper option is with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, which would take 21 hours and 35 minutes with an 85-minute layover and cost £825 in economy class.
Other options include flying with Air France and Delta Airlines through Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, which takes 19 hours and ten minutes with a layover of three hours and 15 minutes. Tickets cost £1,574 in economy class.
And if Meghan wanted to meet Harry in London before flying to Lagos, she could take an American Airlines flight to Heathrow and then transfer to a British Airways flight to Nigeria.
This would take 19 hours and 50 minutes with a stopover of two hours and 50 minutes, and the cost in premium economy would be £3,297. There are no economy tickets available, but first class singles are on sale for £12,677.
In addition to business options, Meghan could also consider chartering a private jet; The cheapest option offered by PrivateFly is a turboprop aircraft from £96,260.
A light aircraft for the route costs from £113,870, while a medium aircraft costs £147,180, a heavy aircraft costs £232,240 and a passenger aircraft from £353,670.
However, Meghan could of course call on some of her famous friends to borrow her plane, although there is also a possibility that Nigeria will pay for her flights, although this is unknown.
While in Nigeria, the Sussexes will watch a volleyball match and visit military hospitals and charities in Abuja and Lagos, and meet injured armed forces personnel and their families.
Their trip is in a private capacity and not an official visit on behalf of the UK government, as they stepped down as senior royals in early 2020.
Defense Headquarters revealed their itinerary at a press conference today and said that while some of the meetings will be private, the couple will make a photocall afterwards.
The department said Meghan was looking forward to visiting Nigeria to “explore her Nigerian ancestry.”
It comes after Meghan revealed on her Spotify Archetypes podcast in 2022 that she discovered she is of Nigerian ancestry and describes herself as “43 per cent Nigerian”.
Prince Harry meets the public outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London yesterday.
Fans take pictures as Prince Harry shakes hands outside St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday
During a visit to the Nigerian team at last year’s Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Meghan was given the name Amira Ngozi Lolo, which has a special royal meaning.
‘Amira’ means warrior princess of a legend, while ‘Ngozi’ means blessed and ‘Lolo’ means royal wife.
Harry also joked about Meghan’s ancestry during his keynote speech at the games.
He said: “Now, I’m not saying we have favorites in our house, but since my wife found out she is of Nigerian descent, it’s probably going to get a little more competitive this year.”
The couple was invited to Nigeria by the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, who met Harry in Germany last September at the Dusseldorf games.
The competition was founded as a sporting event for wounded and ill military personnel and veterans.
The couple will meet service members and their families and participate in traditional cultural activities, Nigerian media reported.
Prince Harry greets supporters outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London yesterday.
Local newspapers said Defense Headquarters was “honoured” and “delighted” after Harry and Meghan, of Nigerian descent, accepted the invitation. It will be their first visit to Nigeria as a couple.
In a press conference broadcast live on Facebook today, Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, director of sports at Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence, said Harry and Meghan would visit the Wuse Light Academy, an institution they support, before seeing the head of security of Nigeria. .
They will later travel to Kaduna State to visit the Nigerian Army Referral Hospital where wounded and injured soldiers are kept for medical recovery.
Air Vice Marshal Marquis added that the visit would aid the recovery of injured soldiers to increase their personal self-esteem and improve their mental health.
He continued: ‘Their emotional intelligence has improved and their families also see them as they used to be the breadwinners and are able to continue living.
‘So this commitment to Invictus is giving us the opportunity to get our soldiers back.
Prince William poses for a selfie with a well-wisher on a visit to Fistral Beach in Newquay today
‘On Saturday we will have a kind of exhibition of a new game. The CDS (Chief of Defense Staff) team and the Duke’s team will play a volleyball match in the morning in the Armed Forces officers’ dining room.
‘And this is just to dialogue with the wounded and the wounded soldiers. Tomorrow morning there will be a sitting volleyball game.
‘Then after that we have a show for them at 1pm. A reception, where they will interact with families of wounded and injured soldiers and families of soldiers and officers killed in combat and service members in general.’
On Sunday, the couple is expected to pay a courtesy call on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and also visit a basketball court at the school their organization supports in Lagos, where an exhibition match of basketball.
A reception is also expected to be organized for the couple on Sunday before they travel to Abuja in preparation for their departure from the country on Monday.
Harry and Meghan moved to the United States in 2020 after leaving royal duties and now live in a £12 million mansion in Montecito, California, with their children Archie, who turned five on Monday, and Lilibet, who will turn three on next month.