Meanwhile Harry and Meg meet poorest girls in Morocco
Joined by nine staff for three-day tour
PRINCE Harry and wife Meghan Markle will today meet girls from one of the poorest parts of Morocco who are being given the chance of having an education.
The children, who live in remote villages in the Atlas Mountains where illiteracy rates are as high as 83 per cent, live at one of five boarding houses run by Education For All, an organisation created by Mike McHugo, a Briton who has been honoured for his work.
Harry and Meghan, who arrived in Casablanca last night, will tour one of the houses and a secondary school in the village of Asni, with the duchess also joining local women in a traditional henna ceremony.
The couple are staying privately as guests of the King of Morocco at an unnamed royal residence where they were greeted by Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, 15, the elder child of Mohammad VI, who will meet the British royal couple tomorrow afternoon.
They have travelled with nine staff, including three press officers and a hairdresser, on their three-day visit and a source confirmed that ‘medical provisions have been made’ for Meghan who is thought to be seven-and-a-half months pregnant.
On a visit to the area around Asni last week, The Mail on Sunday saw the basic conditions in which the mainly agricultural population eke out an existence. Some families have only recently received running water and children share beds in cramped houses. Four million people in Morocco live in poverty
Mr McHugo, who will today receive his MBE from the prince, spoke of his group’s work. He said: ‘One of the criteria to join is that they have to be poor and have the aptitude to make the most out of what we can offer.
‘We have huge excess demand. We’re a drop in the ocean really in sense of the need. We only work in one area and we’re turning away three, four, times the people applying for the places we have.’
The area boasts stunning scenery with villages clinging to the slopes of snow-topped mountains dotted with orange trees.
After the visit to Asni, there is speculation that the royal party will stop off for lunch at Kasbah Tamadot, a nearby £1,000-a-night hotel owned by Sir Richard Branson.
Tonight, the couple will attend a reception at the official residence of the British Ambassador, Thomas Reilly, a colourful character who wears socks emblazoned with the Union Flag. Last week, he retweeted a post commenting on Meghan’s baby shower in New York that read: ‘Lay off Meghan. Her rich friends gave her a party. Lucky her, but it’s not evil.’
Guests at the reception will include influential Moroccan women and disabled athletes. Harry created the Invictus Games, the sporting event for injured armed forces personnel and veterans.
Tomorrow’s itinerary includes a visit to the Moroccan Federation of Equestrian Sports before departing on Tuesday.