Grass skirts and kava
Harry and Meghan receive a warm and traditional welcome in Fiji as they continue their Oceania tour.
SUVA: Prince Harry sipped on the narcotic drink kava at a traditional welcoming ceremony in Fiji as the island nation gave the British royal and his pregnant wife Meghan the biggest greeting so far on their Oceania tour.
After more than a week in Australia, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex began a four-day swing through Fiji and Tonga, arriving to huge crowds in the Fijian capital Suva yesterday.
About 15,000 people, many holding union flags and pictures of the royal couple, packed into Albert Park in downtown Suva for the ceremony led by elders in grass skirts.
They presented Harry with a large sperm whale tooth known as a tabua, a symbol of prestige in Fijian culture.
He was then given a cup of kava from a communal bowl, with the sixth in line to the British throne appearing slightly apprehensive as he looked at Meghan and his entourage.
He drew cheers from the crowd when he gave the traditional toast “bula” and downed the concoction in one, clapping himself after he was done.
The mildly intoxicating drink – made from the root of a relative of the pepper plant – is commonly described as tasting like muddy water, and leaves the face feeling slightly numb.
Fiji, a former British colony, became independent in 1970 at a ceremony in the same Albert Park venue that was attended by Harry’s father Prince Charles.
Earlier, thousands of people lined the route as the royal motorcade
made its way into Suva, with the couple’s progress broadcast on live television to the archipelago’s population of 920,000.
Harry wore medals from his own military service as he inspected a Fijian honour guard of soldiers wearing the distinctive sulu, a kiltlike white skirt with a zig-zag hem.
Meghan followed medical advice to cover up and minimise the risk of Zika infection, donning a longsleeved white dress with a matching hat.