But we’re not supposed to call it a “royal” tour. Even though it totally looks like a “royal” tour. But, you know, the British family doesn’t know what an asset is when they actually have it. 

 

So Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are on tour in Nigeria, their first time back on the African continent since 2019, shortly before they would come to the decision to step back from their positions as senior members of the British royal family. They were invited to Nigeria by the nation’s Chief of Defense Staff, the “highest-ranking military official”. Meghan had revealed on her podcast, Archetypes, that she did one of those ancestry tests and it revealed that her background was Nigerian. Then last year at the Invictus Games in Germany, she and Harry connected with the Nigerian team who are very interested in hosting the Invictus Games in the future. The Sussexes, then, have been building a strong relationship with Nigeria, they are the ones Nigerians wanted to welcome…

 

Which, well, you can imagine how that’s going over behind palace walls and with the British tabloids. Because Nigeria is a Commonwealth country. King Charles is the head of the Commonwealth. And Nigeria is rolling out the royal carpet for the “exiles”.

 

Harry and Meghan will be there for three days and it’s a full schedule. They’ll be meeting with veterans and service personnel, they’ve been visiting schools and talking to children about mental health, they’ll attend sporting events and other receptions to advance the purpose of the Invictus Games. So far, the visuals are spectacular. This, after all, is the purpose of a royal tour (that isn’t officially royal). To generate publicity and awareness with their mere presence. It’s beaming smiles, cute encounters, and charisma cranked all the way to the max.

 

Here’s Harry talking to kids about empathy and Meghan flirting with him:

 

Here they are dancing with kids in their classroom: 

 

These babies in their school uniforms, I can’t. Look at this little guy in his vest! 

The expression they use during these tours is “charm offensive”. We have seen the Sussexes turn on the charm offensive many times, starting from when they were actually repping the Firm and became such valuable players for the institution. This is Harry and Meghan flexing those skills over the next three days while the people who didn’t want them just have to sit there and watch. 

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