- See Photos of Harry’s parents’ visit to Nigeria 34 years ago
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, will visit Nigeria today, Friday, 10 May, 2024.
The visit of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Nigeria is at the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.
The Duchess of Sussex is said to be particularly excited about this visit on account of a personal connection to Nigeria. On her Archetypes podcast, she shared that a genealogy test revealed she had Nigerian heritage.
At the Invictus Games last September, the first time Team Nigeria competed, Harry said, “I’m not saying we play favorites in my home, but since my wife discovered that she is of Nigerian descent it’s likely to get a little bit more competitive this year.”
In March 1990, over three decades ago, Prince Harry’s parents, then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, undertook a five-day royal visit to Nigeria. It was both Charles and Diana’s first time in the country; King Charles would return three more times (in 1999, 2006, and 2018).
The Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters, Abidemi Marquis, said Harry – the founder of Invictus Games, would spend three days in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.
The visit scheduled for May 10-13, 2024 would help the wounded soldiers in their recovery efforts.
This follows Nigeria’s debut appearance at Harry’s 2023 Invictus Games which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The couple will visit the wounded soldiers at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State.
Thereafter, a novelty match will be played between the CDS team and the Duke team at the armed forces Officers’ Mess on Saturday.