If Meghan really does hope to be President one day, this was a masterstroke of a launch pad
THE question was innocuous and well-meant – but it drew an instinctively defensive response from Harry and Meghan’s top aide. ‘Hope everything goes well today,’ remarked a journalist casually.
‘What do you mean? What could go wrong?’ shot back the usually charming Miranda Barbot, seemingly affronted that anyone might suggest the event could be anything other than a roaring success.
Being on the road with the Californiabased Sussexes, you see, is all about positive vibes. It was Saturday, midway through the duke and duchess’s tour of Nigeria, and we were waiting for the couple to arrive at an outdoor sports complex in Abuja for a volleyball match. Above, grey skies threatened.
‘Ah yes, rain,’ Miranda said, following our gaze upwards and realising what the journalist had meant.
She was right, though. Barring the heavens opening, the whip- smart PR guru, who helped get Barack Obama reelected, really did have everything covered. Whatever the true complexion of this fascinating tour – private, nonroyal, quasi-royal, presidential – one thing was certain. It was controlled skilfully and with an iron hand.
Now back home in Montecito, Harry and Meghan will doubtless reflect on a job well done. Yet it was success achieved without truly capturing the hearts of all Nigerians, many of whom were little interested in this faux-royal trip. Others complained that access to the Sussexes was far beyond ordinary citizens. ‘It’s just for the dignitaries, the well- connected,’ came the familiar complaint.
The visit failed to excite much interest from the Nigerian media either, particularly the newspapers, which devoted notably few column inches to the couple. Official royal tours typically feature setpieces drawing large crowds. On this trip there were no opportunities for the public to see Harry and Meghan close at hand.
Each event was effectively held behind closed doors, with the majority accessible only to hand-picked journalists, those guaranteed to deliver fawning coverage.
In theory, the programme of events was framed around the Invictus Games, Harry’s initiative for wounded, sick and injured service personnel and veterans, which recruited Nigeria to the fold last year. Certainly, we witnessed an upbeat Duke of Sussex on familiar turf – dispensing encouragement to wounded soldiers, engaging with children, hobnobbing with military types.
In open, affable Harry, it is easy to recognise his mother, Diana, who visited Nigeria 34 years ago and was pictured holding the hand of a leprosy patient.
Yet, for all that he gave his own bravura performance this week, Harry will find it hard to escape the feeling that he was – deliberately or otherwise – bundled out of the limelight by his wife.
It was never Meghan’s destiny to be former soldier Harry’s adjutant
– she made that clear from the outset of their relationship. And, through a series of strategically well-judged moves, she made this trip her own. Locals quickly dubbed it the Meghan Show.
By the end, the duchess had emerged seeming less the ex-TV actress wife of a former royal – and more a sure-footed global stateswoman in her own right.
Perhaps it’s not such a wild leap. When Ms Barbot was hired by the Sussexes two years ago with the brief to transform their image, it was suggested by one insider that ‘it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Meghan went into politics’.
There has, of course, long been speculation that the duchess would one day like a tilt at the White House itself. If that is indeed her intention, the trip will have done her no harm at all – and might even prove a masterstroke.
The invitation to visit Nigeria – specifically to meet wounded soldiers – was originally extended to Harry by the country’s defence chief during last year’s Invictus Games. So neatly has this visit dovetailed with Meghan’s agenda, though, some might be forgiven for wondering if the trip was at least partly her plan all along.
For a start, Meghan already had a significant fanbase in Nigeria thanks to the popularity of the TV drama Suits, in which she played paralegal Rachel Zane. Her following had been established long before she met Harry.
As a senior diplomat told the Daily Mail: ‘In the House of Windsor divide, most Nigerians – if interested – side with Meghan and Harry. This is because they loved Diana and see the Sussexes as outsiders like her. And of the two, they like Meghan more because of Suits, which was huge here, much more so than in the UK.’
Then there’s Meghan’s recent discovery through a DNA test that she is 43 per cent Nigerian. When she first dropped this genealogical bombshell – in an episode of her Archetypes podcast – it gained little traction. What better way, then, to spread the word than through a carefully planned visit to the ancestral homeland of her forebears?
From the moment the couple stepped off the plane, Meghan appeared to miss no opportunity to emphasise that Nigeria is ‘my home’.
On the first day, Friday, she told an audience of schoolgirls that ‘I see myself in all of you’ while thanking the nation for ‘welcoming me home’ later that same day.
Meghan suggested, too, that she would use the trip to explore her heritage, although how far she got with that was never explained. Perhaps, as some suspect, all will be revealed in a forthcoming Netflix documentary.
This interest in her heritage will surely resonate with fellow Americans. It has been well received in Nigeria on the whole and, one suspects, elsewhere in Africa.
Adeola Adenikinju, the president of Nigerian Economic Society – a respected forum for economists and social scientists – said: ‘I am proud that she has a Nigerian blood flowing through her body.
‘Meghan has been quite strong. She is not ashamed of her colour and her people. I think she would fit as a good role model for the younger generation.’
There are, however, some dissenting voices. ‘I see it [her 43 per cent Nigerian claim] as a political statement but if she is serious about it, then she will need to take further steps to prove to the general public that she is of Nigerian descent,’ said Dr Gever Verlumun Celestine, a lecturer in mass communications at the University of Nsukka.
Of the couple’s decision to visit, Dr Celestine added: ‘They have everything they need to make their lives comfortable so I feel that they can hardly relate with the challenges Nigerians face.’
Such criticisms aside, never were
She has made this trip her own with well-judged moves
‘It’s natural for her to steal the show’
Meghan’s credentials as a stateswoman more evident than at a panel discussion on Saturday, the second day of the visit. To some at least, she sounded quite simply like a politician.
In front of her were 50 of Nigeria’s top female leaders from politics, the media and business – and they lapped up every word.
She spoke of the motherhoodcareer balance and highlighted the importance of women’s leadership and empowerment ‘in driving positive change globally’.
And yet again there was talk of her Nigerian roots.
An oil company communications manager, Chinaza Unwakwe, a fan of the British royals, said: ‘I think the Nigerian heritage talking point was a good communication opportunity utilised well. Meghan has a bigger personality than Harry so it’s only natural for her to steal the show.
‘Harry tends to take a laidback approach when it comes to their dual appearances. Classic British guy. I think of it this way: She chose the limelight – he didn’t.’
‘I’m an avid follower of the Royal Family,’ he continued, ‘but I wasn’t keen on this trip. I am not interested because my country’s situation is bad.
‘We have more pressing issues – rocketing inflation and security – and I do not see how a visit by Harry and Meghan will help us.’
But as the couple relax, reunited with their children in their Montecito mansion, others are watching to see what exactly the Sussexes – and more particularly Meghan herself – are planning next.