Inside Harry and Meghan's Nigerian tour: Meghan will be treated as a 'warrior ... trends now
Cheering crowds, colourful bouquets and a plush red carpet: when Prince Charles and Princess Diana touched down in Nigeria on March 15, 1990, legions of fans lined the runway to welcome them.
Every step of their five-day tour was recorded in fulsome detail by the world's press, who joined them for lavish state banquets, community walkabouts and meetings with dignitaries.
The nature of the welcome of their son, Harry, and his wife Meghan will receive in the African nation, however, is yet to be seen.
The Sussexes' tour, announced by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters last Sunday, will take place later this month, following Harry's return to the UK to mark the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul's Cathedral on May 8.
The visit certainly has personal resonance for both. For Prince Harry, it's in aid of the Invictus Games, his sporting tournament for sick and wounded servicemen, women and veterans, in which Nigeria participated for the first time last September. It came about after the Duke apparently struck up conversation during the games in Dusseldorf, Germany, with defence chief General Christopher Gwabin Musa.
Sussexes, pictured during their trip to South Africa in 2019, will tour Nigeria later this month
Meghan meets athlete Glory Essien, who called the duchess 'my Nigerian sister' when they met at the Invictus Games in Germany last year
For Meghan, it's also about heritage. She announced in 2022 that a genealogy test had shown she was '43 per cent Nigerian'.
But while the tour sounds very royal, the couple stepped back as working members of the Royal Family in 2020, meaning they have access to none of the funding, security nor — crucially — meticulous planning a trip of this sort usually entails.
According to retired chief superintendent Dai Davies, a former head of royalty protection, that means it will be a challenge. 'This appears to be a quasi-royal tour but without any of the official back-up for it. It seems terribly badly thought-out to me.'
So what are the practicalities of carrying out a tour when you're royal but no longer on the royal payroll?
Security fears
Nigeria was recently ranked the ninth most dangerous country in Africa by the World Population Review, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) currently advises British nationals against travel to 'all parts of Nigeria'.
The same is true in Harry's new homeland, where the U.S. State Department urges citizens to 'reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and armed gangs'. Harry and Meghan are certainly potential targets: reports place their worth at £48 million.
Harry is no longer entitled to protection abroad from the Metropolitan Police, nor help from the FCDO.
He and Meghan pay a fortune — reportedly £1.58 million a year — for their own private security team, headed by David Langdown, one of Harry's former Metropolitan Police protection officers.
It's not known if the couple will be contributing to the cost of security in Nigeria, though some reports have claimed it will be paid for by the Nigerian government.
Sources suggest their protocols while in Nigeria — where an estimated 87 million people live below the poverty line — will mimic the royal set-up, meaning they'll travel with a small team of close-protection officers.
All will have done extensive reconnaissance beforehand, working closely with the security team of Nigerian president Bola Tinubu. Nigerian army spokesman Brigadier-General Tukur Gusau confirmed to the Mail that they will fly into the capital city, Abuja. They're also believed to be visiting Lagos and Kaduna.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana touched in Nigeria on March 15, 1990, where legions of fans lined the streets to welcome them
Leading Nigerian polo player Folarin Kuku with Sir Michael Palin for his latest travel series, Michael Palin in Nigeria, for Channel 5
£650-a-night suite
Harry's used to 'slumming it' in hotels these days. He's booked himself into one for his upcoming London trip and did the same last year after finding his request to stay at Windsor Castle unceremoniously denied through 'lack of notice'.
Ben Shemang, a former director of news at radio station Voice of Nigeria, with years of experience as a defence correspondent, says state visitors are typically hosted at the presidential headquarters, Aso Villa in Abuja, where recent guests included Bill Gates.
Indeed, when Charles and Diana visited Nigeria in 1990, they were invited to stay at the State House in Lagos, then the capital, but instead preferred to sleep aboard the Royal Yacht.
However, as this is not an official state visit, Mr Shemang predicts Harry and Meghan will be offered accommodation in another official building, such as an ambassadorial residence, or put up in a five-star hotel like the Transcorp Hilton Abuja.
The towering hotel, set in picturesque landscaped grounds, features an on-site casino, spa, tennis courts and swimming pool. The Royal Suite costs £390 a night for bed-and-breakfast, while the top-of-the-range Executive Presidential Suite, with Art Deco interiors and panoramic tenth floor views, is £650.
High-fliers
Despite their supposed eco credentials, Harry and Meghan may well fly privately to Nigeria, given their form using private jets, even on Invictus-related business.
If they do travel commercially, British Airway flies to Abuja daily from Heathrow — meaning Harry could fly from the UK in just over six hours.
Meghan, however, would have a much longer journey to join him, from Los Angeles via Istanbul or Frankfurt, with connecting flights adding up to 22 hours.
It is believed that some of the logistics of their trip will be organised by Clara Loughran and Beth Herlihy, who worked in Harry's private office when he was a member of the
