Duchess thanks people of Nigeria for ‘welcoming me home’

There were excited schoolchildren, speeches about mental health, a formal welcome ceremony and an outfit change. Musicians and dancers showcased local culture, the military put on a show and the guests of honour let slip a few sweet anecdotes about their children.

If this was Royal tour bingo, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have nearly a full house.

In Nigeria, the start of their three-day trip saw them follow the tried-and-tested programme the Duke has known all his adult life.

But this time, it was on the Sussexes’ own terms.

The couple met army wives during their tour of the defence HQ Credit: AP Photo/Sunday Alamba

The couple wore beaded necklaces given to them by pupils at the school Credit: Sunday Alamba/AP

Traditionally, it is royal women who visibly honour the host nation through wearing local designers, significant jewellery or the colours of the country. This time, the Duchess wore pure white while the Duke donned a suit in green: together making up the colours of the Nigerian flag.

In an earlier outfit, the Duchess wore a low-backed, peach-coloured dress in the neutral tones she is known for. She has previously said that while in Britain, she “rarely wore colour” in an effort to not “stand out” or clash with the Royal family.

She praised her husband as “so smart”, after he handed her the microphone following a speech about mental health.

“As I look around this room,” she told Nigerian students, “I see myself in all of you as well.”

The Duke and Duchess were filmed joining in a preschool music and dance class, revealing Princess Lilibet, who is nearly three, likes her “singing and dancing” classes and five-year-old Prince Archie loves “construction”.

In short, this is the type of trip to fit the Sussexes in their newfound freedom – high on smiling selfies, hugs and heartfelt words; low on official handshakes, diplomatic meetings and British press.

The Duchess of Sussex takes a selfie with students Credit: Kola Sulaimon/AFP

The couple chatted to children in the preschool class Credit: KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images

Instead of a private secretary and palace advisers on foreign and Commonwealth matters, they had James Holt, the director of Archewell Foundation, David Wiseman, the Director for International Development at the Invictus Games Foundation, and their press secretaries.

In 2024, four years after they left working royal life, the couple are back on the world stage. After years of looking back – in a memoir, Netflix series and a myriad of interviews focusing on the challenges of their time in the Royal family – they are trying to look forward.

The Duchess is in the midst of releasing her American Riviera Orchard brand into the world and the Duke ploughs on with his Invictus mission.

Adenike Keennam, whose husband is in the air force, met the Duchess at the official welcome ceremony at Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters.

“I told her ‘welcome home’. She gave me a big smile,” she said afterwards.

“I think it’s significant they’re here in many ways. With people like them who you see on TV or on the papers, to see them in person goes a long way.”

The Prince was given a military welcome as he switched to formal attire for the defence visit Credit: AFOLABI SOTUNDE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The couple clapped and cheered as they watched performers outside the school Credit: Sunday Alamba/AP

The Sussexes had been given a military welcome, hosted by Christopher Musa, the chief of defence staff.

The Duke spoke of his gratitude for then “joining the Invictus movement for Nigeria and for every single soul who’s been injured protecting the freedoms of Nigeria”.

As they signed the visitors’ book, Prince Harry remarked about the Duchess’s calligraphy. “She has beautiful handwriting.”

“With gratitude for the support of the Invictus community. And for welcoming me home” she wrote.

Both Prince Harry and the Duchess signed a visitors book to say thank you for their welcome

The Duke wrote: “Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country together, we will heal our troops”

Earlier in the day, the couple visited the Lightway Academy in Abuja for an event focusing on mental health.

“Will you promise to us that after today, no more being scared, no more being unsure of mental health?” the Duke told students.

“If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you gonna do? You gonna check in with them? Are you gonna ask him if they’re okay? ‘cause it’s okay not to be okay.”

As the Duke handed over the microphone, the Duchess asked the audience: “You see why I married him? He’s so smart.”

She went on to tell students: “Interestingly, so our daughter, Lili, she’s much, much tinier than you guys. She’s about to turn three.

“And a few weeks ago she looked at me and she would just see the reflection in my eyes. And she was, mama, I see me in you.

“Oh, now she was talking really, literally.

“But I hung onto those words in a very different way. And I thought, yes, I do see me and you, and you see me and you, but as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.”

It is the couple’s first visit to Nigeria.

Meghan will co-host a “Women in Leadership” talk during her visit Credit: Sunday Alamba/AP

On Saturday, they will attend a training session for Nigeria: Unconquered and a reception hosted by the chief of defence staff in honour of military families. The Duchess will co-host a “Women in Leadership” event with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organisation.

Later in the day, the Duke made a solo trip 150 miles away, to Kaduna where he paid a visit to Senator Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state. Kaduna is labelled as a no-go zone by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, which advises against all but essential travel to the state.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t bring my wife,” the Duke said, explaining she had separate meetings in Abuja. “The focus here in Kaduna is the wounded, injured and sick men and women who serve in Nigerian forces and keep people safe.”

Before he left, the Duke was given two paintings: one of him and his late mother Princess Diana, the other of him and the Duchess.

He was asked to put on another gift – an outfit of a traditional waistcoat and a “Big Gown” and a Hula cap too.

Afterwards, he travelled to Reference Hospital Kaduna, the first port of call for injured Nigerian soldiers.

The Duke toured six wards, seeing row after row of young men recuperating from their injuries. Many had been shot or lost limbs after being ambushed by Boko Haram.

“You are going to get better, get back on your feet,” he told those in the first ward, during a visit in which he shook around 50 hands.

Corp Yusef, 23, who had been shot through the knee, spoke to him and the Duke asked him about his rehab. “Are you going to try for the Invictus Games team? Are you preparing for that? Don’t disappoint us” and then, pointing to his friend David Wiseman, an Invictus veteran who now works on the international expansion of the said, “or him!”

“We will see you there.”

As the Prince left the ward, Yusef was doing push ups on the bed to show his motivation to get ready.

Half way round he was introduced to 2nd Lt Princess Owowoh, 23, who had recently graduated from Sandhurst military academy where the Prince trained to be an army officer. “He wrote to congratulate me and say that they were coming to Nigeria and about the Invictus Games Foundation,” she said.

“The Invictus Games gives hope to the soldiers. It encourages them to walk towards a goal, to achieve something new.”

In the prosthetics and orthotics workshop, the Duke asked why more of the men he had just seen were not, and was told it was “partly stigma”.

As he left, he was given a large mirror decorated with a painting of himself with the Duchess.

Kaduna is labelled as a no-go zone by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which advises against all but essential travel to the state.