London — Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wrapped up a three-day tour of Nigeria on Sunday that saw the U.S.-based couple use their celebrity to highlight some of the causes they care most about.
Harry played a game of sitting volleyball with disabled athletes — all of them Nigerian army veterans.
Nigeria has expressed interest in hosting the Invictus Games, the charity sporting event for wounded soldiers founded a decade ago by the duke.
Meghan co-hosted a women’s leadership event where she referenced her Nigerian ancestry for the second time during the trip.
“Thank you very much for how graciously you’ve all been welcoming my husband and I to this country,” she said, pausing before adding, “my country.”
The simple two words were met with cheering and applause.
Andrew Esiebo/Getty for The Archewell Foundation
Predictably, given the couple’s longstanding enmity with the U.K.’s tabloid media, some British newspapers pointed out that Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria looked very much like a royal tour – including the duke’s inspection of a Nigerian military guard of honor — despite them having left behind their roles as “working royals.”
At one point Harry stood to attention for his country’s national anthem, God Save the King, just days after the couple’s press team said King Charles III couldn’t carve out time to meet his youngest son during Harry’s visit to London earlier this month.
The Nigeria trip seemed to be a success for the Sussexes, at least for the people Harry and Meghan came to visit. Nigerians welcomed them with open arms.
“On camera they are good, but in person, holy moly!” said Malaika Gyang-gyang, a student at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, which the duke and duchess visited as soon as they arrived on Friday.
