Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived in Nigeria this morning for their 72-hour whistlestop tour after flying in together from London.
They boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.
The couple, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.
On arrival in Nigeria just before 5am today, other travellers were held back while the couple were escorted off and they exchanged smiles with cabin crew as they left.
Nigerian officials met them at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and they were taken out of a side door onto the jetty and into a waiting blacked out minibus.
Meghan was wearing black trousers and a brown jacket, while Harry walked behind in a black jacket, trousers and open necked shirt.
Aides carried their luggage, and they were accompanied by the same security team that had been with Harry throughout his recent stay in London.
The couple are thought to be staying in the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
The hotel is also close to the Nigerian Defence Headquarters where the couple will have their first engagement at 12pm with Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.
Brigadier General Tukur Gusau revealed that they will be tired after their journey, so they will rest and then the first engagement is at midday at the Defence Headquarters.
“After that they will travel to Kaduna to meet wounded soldiers at a military hospital there before returning to Abuja for other engagements,” he said.
The visit is primarily to promote the Invictus Games and comes after Harry met the Nigerian team and General Musa at last year’s competition in Dusseldorf, Germany.
It was there that he told the audience Meghan was “rooting for Team Nigeria” after discovering she had heritage from the country.
Meghan revealed on her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 that she found out she has Nigerian ancestry, describing herself as “43 per cent Nigerian”.
During a visit to the Nigerian team at last year’s Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Meghan was given the name Amira Ngozi Lolo.
The couple are due to visit a school before the duke meets injured service members at a military hospital.
They will also attend a training session for charity organisation Nigeria: Unconquered, which collaborates with the Invictus Games, as well as a reception where military families will be honoured.
Meghan is then due to co-host an event of Women in Leadership with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.
The couple will fly to Lagos on Sunday for the second part of the visit where they will attend a basketball camp with the charity Giants of Africa, a cultural reception and a polo fundraiser for Nigeria: Unconquered.
The Defence HQ revealed the Sussexes’ itinerary in a press conference yesterday, and said that while some of the meetings will be private, the couple will do a photocall after.
The Invictus Games was founded as a sporting event for injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
