In what feels like a royal tour of yesteryear—remember their visits to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga in 2018 and South Africa in 2019?—Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in Nigeria right now, arriving today after what was no doubt a difficult week for Harry in the U.K., where he had high highs (celebrating 10 years of the Invictus Games) and low lows (family drama to the nth degree).
Per People, in the first stop of the tour, both Harry and Meghan spoke today at the inaugural mental health summit put on by the GEANCO Foundation at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. After Harry delivered a heartfelt speech about mental health, Meghan was met with cheers as she took the mic and said, in a proud wife moment, “You see why I’m married to him?” She added, “It’s so inspiring, because he speaks the truth.”
What did Harry say that prompted such a response? Here’s a snippet: “In some cases around the world, in more than you would believe, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health,” he said. “Too many people don’t want to talk about it, because it’s invisible. It’s something in our mind that we can’t see. It’s not like a broken leg, it’s not like a broken wrist. It’s something that we are still relatively unsure of. But guess what? Every single person in this room, the youngest, the oldest, every single person, has mental health. So, therefore, you have to look after yourself to be able to look after other people. And other people have to be able to look after themselves to look after you. That’s the way it works. And there is no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day, okay?”
During her own speech Meghan—wearing a peach maxi dress by Heidi Merrick (coincidentally in the "Windsor" style) and Emme Parsons sandals—also addressed mental health, telling the crowd “Every single one of you has a story. We all have our story. And there’s no shame in any single one of your stories. Even on the hardest days or darkest days, everything is a pillar of your strength by each of you being there.”
Meghan then spoke about her daughter, Princess Lilibet, who will turn three next month. Referencing Meghan’s Nigerian heritage—she revealed on her “Archetypes” podcast that a genealogy test revealed she is 43 percent Nigerian—“Your teachers see that in you,” Meghan continued. “And we see that in you. Interestingly, so does our daughter, Lili. She’s much tinier than you guys, about to turn three. A few weeks ago, she looked at me and saw her reflection in my eyes. She said ‘Mama, I see me in you.’ Now, she was talking literally, but I held onto those words in a different way. I thought, ‘Yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you.' But as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.”
She concluded “It is a complete honor to have our first visit to Nigeria be here with all of you. We believe in you. We believe in your futures. We believe in your ability to continue to tell your stories and to just be honest with each other. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you are taking care of yourselves, and that begins with your mental health by really talking about whatever’s coming up for you…We are with each other, even in the moments that are sad.”
The couple have engagements in Nigeria through the weekend in what People writes is “their first official international tour since stepping back from their royal roles in 2020.” Harry and Meghan were invited to Nigeria by its Chief of Defense Staff, which is the country’s highest-ranking military official.
Meghan acknowledged her heritage in a sweet note left in a visitor’s book at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja today, writing “With gratitude for the support of the Invictus community. And for welcoming me home.”
Harry noticed her handwriting—in her signature calligraphy style—and noted “She has beautiful handwriting,” before himself signing the book “Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country, together we will heal our troops,” acknowledging the work of the Invictus Games, which supports service personnel, both veterans and those still serving; Nigeria, along with Colombia and Israel, were the latest additions to the Games’ roster at the latest iteration of competition, held last September in Dusseldorf, Germany.
While being formally welcomed to Nigeria at the headquarters, Harry and Meghan honored the flag of the country through their clothing: Meghan wore a white Altuzarra pantsuit, and Harry was in a teal green suit, which are the colors of the Nigerian flag.
