Meghan whisked away in security scare
PRINCE Harry demanded an explanation from his wife’s personal protection officer and Kensington Palace aides why she was rushed out of an indoor market in Fiji over fears for her safety.
The Duchess of Sussex was whisked away after less than eight minutes of a walkabout, leaving stallholders devastated that they could not meet her.
Hundreds of locals in the market in the Fijian capital Suva came out to catch a glimpse of Meghan, before she was due to meet female vendors to discuss women’s empowerment.
Pregnant Meghan was seen to whisper into one aide’s ear seconds before she entered the “hot and humid” venue, which did not appear to have been properly assessed beforehand.
Kensington Palace aides said the Duchess was ushered out of the building, after fulfilling less than half of the scheduled engagement, due to “crowd control issues”. Scores of people had waited for up to four hours to see Meghan, but many clambered on tables and chairs inside the building leading to the appearance that the situation was out of control.
One onlooker described Meghan as looking “slightly flustered” during the hurried walk through the market. Harry, 34, was 30 miles away in the Colo-i-Suva rainforest at the time, planting an endangered native tree.
Meghan, 37, elected not to go due to the risk of the Zika virus which can cause abnormal birth defects in unborn babies.
Vendor
A vendor who met Meghan briefly said the Duchess looked “afraid” as she walked round the market.
Asenaca Salusalu, 50, said: “She didn’t really speak at all, like she was a bit afraid. She just said ‘Bula’ [hello] and ‘Nice to meet you’, but I’m happy to have met her.”
A royal source said: “The event was cut short due to the large number of people within the market, which made the event uncomfortably busy.
“There were much bigger crowds than people had been anticipating and there were a lot of people cramped into the market.”
It is believed that Meghan’s close protection officer and Kensington Palace staff responsible for the walkabout engagement met after the event to discuss what had happened.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “We have no comment on a meeting.”
Many of the female vendors who waited to see Meghan were members of the United Nations Women’s project Markets for Change.
They were said to be left feeling disappointed after failing to meet Meghan, who has been a vocal advocate for women’s issues in the past.