(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are no longer working royals — having stepped away from the role four years ago — but for the next several days, the Sussexes will be on a trip that looks similar to their royal tours of the past.
Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, on Friday will begin a three-day visit to Nigeria, a country in West Africa that they are both visiting for the first time.
Harry and Meghan’s visit has no affiliation with Britain’s royal family, and is instead at the invitation of the country’s Chief of Defense Staff, its highest-ranking military official.
Their three-day visit though will have them interacting with not only military officials but also locals, including women leaders and servicemen and women.
On Friday, Harry and Meghan plan to meet with the Chief of Defense Staff, as well as visit a school together. Harry will also meet with injured servicemembers at a local military hospital, a spokesperson for the Sussexes confirmed to ABC News.
On Saturday, the couple plans to attend a training session for Nigeria: Unconquered, a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style competition for wounded service members that Harry founded in 2014.
Meghan is also scheduled to co-host an event on women in leadership with the director general of the World Trade Organization.
On Sunday, their final day in Nigeria, Harry and Meghan will attend a basketball clinic and a “cultural reception,” according to their spokesperson.
Just as they did during their days as working royals, Harry and Meghan will be accompanied on the trip by a pool reporter and photographer, according to their spokesperson.
On previous official visits as working royals, Harry and Meghan were known to draw large crowds and bring global attention to the countries they visited.
In late 2019, Harry and Meghan traveled to South Africa for what would be their last major overseas royal tour. There, they shone in public events interacting with locals, but also spoke candidly about the struggles they faced as newlyweds and new parents under the glare of the public spotlight.
Prince Harry steps out solo in London while King Charles III attends Buckingham Palace garden party
“It’s hard,” Meghan told ITV anchor Tom Bradby for the documentary, “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.” “I don’t think anybody could understand that.”
Just months later, in January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced to the world that they planned to “step back” from their duties as senior members of Britain’s royal family.
Shortly after that announcement, Buckingham Palace confirmed the Sussexes would no longer be “working members” of the royal family.
Since then, the couple has settled in California with their two young children, Archie and Lilibet, and become financially independent, taking on new roles in the entertainment and philanthropy worlds.
Harry and Meghan have returned together to the United Kingdom since their departure less than a handful of times, most recently attending the funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
Harry returned to London solo on May 8, to attend a 10th anniversary service for the Invictus Games held at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The duke did not see his father, King Charles III, nor his brother, Prince William, during his visit.
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