The Duchess of Sussex will not join Prince Harry when he arrives in the UK next week.
But she will fly from the United States to Nigeria to join her husband on an official visit immediately afterwards, it emerged yesterday.
A spokesperson for the couple confirmed that Meghan would not accompany her husband to a service at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games for wounded military personnel on May 8.
But they said she would be by his side for an ‘Invictus-inspired’ visit to Africa immediately after the duke leaves the UK.
Harry last returned to Britain in February for a brief 30-minute meeting with his father after it was announced he was being treated for cancer.
He said in a later interview that he would “stop by to see my family as much as I could,” but many noted the brevity of his reunion with his father.
Meghan Markle will not join Prince Harry when he arrives in the UK next week
Meghan will fly from the United States to Nigeria to join her husband, Prince Harry, for an official visit immediately afterwards, it emerged yesterday.
Meghan has only briefly set foot in the UK three times since she and Harry bitterly abandoned royal duties for a new life in California. Sources close to the duchess have previously been reported as saying she is “done” with Britain and “doesn’t want the drama”. Therefore, many will consider it significant that, while there are no plans for Meghan to accompany her husband to London for such an important event, there has been official confirmation of her intention to travel to Nigeria.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on Harry’s visit and whether he might meet his father again.
The Mail understands that the King’s schedule is “quite busy” on the day: he will hold his weekly meeting with the Prime Minister and hopes to attend Buckingham Palace’s first garden party of the summer, which will be his biggest public engagement since who was diagnosed with cancer. .
It will be Harry’s first visit to Britain since he lost a High Court appeal over his security measures after he was stripped of 24-hour police protection when he stepped down as a royal.
No senior member of the Royal Family is expected to join Prince Harry for the Invictus Games event in the UK.
Harry will give a reading at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on May 8 to mark the 10th anniversary of the games, but there has been no mention of any royals attending.
Prince Harry will fly to Britain without Meghan in just over a week for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games
Meghan and Harry take selfies with fans while attending Ukraine Nigeria Mixed Team Preliminary Round in 2023
Harry is believed to be staying in a hotel during his stay in the UK, as he did on his previous recent visits, before he travels to Nigeria days later to join Meghan.
The couple have been invited to Nigeria by the country’s chief of defense staff, who met Harry in Germany last September at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, to take part in “cultural activities” during an unofficial royal visit.
They will meet with service members and their families and participate in “traditional cultural activities,” according to Nigerian media.
The Sussexes left the United Kingdom and moved to the United States when they left their position as royals in January 2020.
Harry and Meghan’s acceptance of the invitation, their first visit to Nigeria as a couple, is said to have left the country’s defense headquarters feeling “honoured” and “delighted”, according to local newspaper reports.
Meghan revealed in 2022 that she discovered she is 43 percent Nigerian after taking a genealogy test “a couple of years ago.”
Speaking on her Archetypes podcast with Nigerian-American comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, she said: “I’m going to start digging into all of this because everyone I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, is like, ‘What!'”
The visit will come days after Harry flies to Britain to attend the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said that with Nigeria hoping to host future Invictus Games and Meghan’s ancestry ties to the country, it makes sense for the couple to make the trip.
But he does not believe it is a move by the Sussexes to return to public duty and that Harry has “no desire” to do so.
“It (the visit to Nigeria) is a very good way to save face as Meghan is not coming to Britain and showing a bit of PR talent,” he said.
