Following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip to Nigeria, royal expert Tom Quinn has claimed the Sussexes are showing they want to be royals ‘on their own terms’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem to show that they don’t need King Charles’ permission to be working royals as they want to do it on their own terms, a royal author has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have just returned home from their trip to Nigeria, during which they visited the country’s military headquarters, met charity organisations and politicians, and promoted the Invictus Games. They were invited by Nigeria’s highest-ranking military official, Christopher Musa, but the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, stressed the Sussexes were not visiting Nigeria on official business.

And following reports that the pair’s visit almost looked like a royal tour, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said King Charles and Prince William would also want to set the record straight, as Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals more than four years ago. Sources close to Harry and Meghan stressed the trip to Nigeria was not a royal tour, but royal author Tom Quinn tells us the visit seemed to be “a bold statement that they refuse to accept they are no longer working royals.”

READ MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle break strict royal protocol with gifts from Nigeria

King Charles at the Army Aviation Centre in Stockbridge, Hampshire, on Monday (
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Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan arrive at the State Governor House in Lagos on May 12 (
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According to the expert, the trip left Charles and William “scratching their heads” and thinking of ways to “control this nightmare situation” as Mr Quinn noted: “When you look at what Harry and Meghan got up to on their Nigeria visit it is easy to see why the senior royals are worried. Everything you might expect from an official royal visit was there – the receptions, the visits to schools and charities, to wounded soldiers and the disabled.

“Meghan and Harry’s speeches and their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals and William and his father King Charles don’t like it one bit. For Charles and William, it’s as if Meghan and Harry are saying, ‘We don’t need your permission to be working royals – we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like.'”

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Confirming that the trip was not a royal tour, the British High Commissioner said: “It’s great that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are visiting Nigeria, which I understand is at the invitation of Defence Headquarters. But they are visiting in a private capacity, not an official one.”

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Montgomery added: “So, the British High Commission is not involved in arranging or facilitating their programme. They are not representing the work of His Majesty’s Government on this visit.”

The Sussexes were invited to Nigeria to promote the Invictus Games, which Harry founded 10 years ago. During the trip, they visited a school for an event on mental health, met charity organisations and wounded Nigerian soldiers, and were welcomed by local politicians.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, welcomes Harry and Meghan
Even though it was made clear that the visit was not a royal tour, royal historian and author Tessa Dunlop said Prince Harry was “very much sticking to a royal script” as she explained: “While the Prince can no longer claim to be a working royal, he is very much sticking to a royal script. Fast on the heels of his service-themed London visit, came a quasi-royal three-day African tour.

“Invited to Nigeria (a Commonwealth country no less) ‘as part of the Invictus Community’, there Harry joined forces with Meghan, who claims 47 percent Nigerian heritage.” Despite the service-focussed trips the Sussexes have made recently, Dunlop noted that in her view “any hope that Harry and Meghan might be enticed back into an informal Commonwealth role, looks more unlikely than ever.”

Harry and Meghan’s representatives did not comment on the story. The Mirror has contacted Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace for comment.

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