Meghan Markle Gushes Over Prince Harry Amid Visit To Nigeria

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, finally touched down in Abuja, Nigeria, for their three-day visit and were greeted with a warm reception.

Before their trip to the African nation, Meghan Markle had opted to stay back home in the US with her children as her Harry jetted off to the UK for the 10th-anniversary celebration of the Invictus Games.

Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria started well. After arriving in the country, the royal couple was greeted with a warm reception.

Their first stop was the Lightway Academy, a school in Abuja, the country’s capital. Harry and Meghan both gave a heartwarming speech at the school’s inaugural mental health summit, which was organized by the GEANCO Foundation.

Students at the school gave a short dance presentation for the Duke and Duchess that incorporated elements of popular Nigerian dance moves as the school director, Joyce Agbese, greeted the royal couple.

Following their short speech, Harry and Meghan had a sweet moment as she gushed, “You see why I’m married to him? It’s so inspiring because he speaks the truth.”

During his speech, Harry talked about the stigma surrounding mental health, noting that it’s a discussion people don’t like to have because it’s “invisible.”

He said, per PeopleMagazine, “In some cases around the world, in more than you would believe, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health. Too many people don’t want to talk about it because it’s invisible. It’s something in our mind that we can’t see. It’s not like a broken leg, it’s not like a broken wrist.”

The Duke further explained that mental health is something people are “relatively unsure of” even though “every single person has mental health.”

He continued, “So, therefore, you have to look after yourself to be able to look after other people. And other people have to be able to look after themselves, to look after you. That’s the way it works. And there is no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day, okay?”

During her speech, the Duchess became more personal as she discussed people having their own stories and that there is “no shame” in those stories.

“Every single one of you has a story. We all have our story. And there’s no shame in any single one of your stories. Even on the hardest days or darkest days, everything is a pillar of your strength by each of you being there,” Meghan noted.

She continued her speech by referencing her and Harry’s daughter, Princess Lilibet. According to Meghan, The young child, who is about to turn three, expressed seeing herself in her mother’s eyes.

“Your teachers see that in you. And we see that in you,” Meghan said, adding, “Interestingly, so does our daughter, Lili; she’s much tinier than you guys, about to turn three.”

The mother of two then narrated: “A few weeks ago, she looked at me and saw her reflection in my eyes. She said, ‘Mama, I see me in you.’ Now, she was talking literally, but I held onto those words in a different way. I thought, yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you. But as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.”

In her heartfelt speech, Meghan, who revealed a few years ago that she learned that she was “43% Nigerian,” gushed about how honored she was to pay her first visit to the country in the company of the children at Lightway Academy.

“It is a complete honor to have our first visit to Nigeria be here with all of you. We believe in you. We believe in your futures. We believe in your ability to continue to tell your stories and to just be honest with each other,” Meghan said. “There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you are taking care of yourselves, and that begins with your mental health by really talking about whatever’s coming up for you.”

Concluding her speech, the Duchess of Sussex gave a birthday shout-out to James Holt, the director of their Archewell Foundation, and noted, “So just like that, we celebrate all the good stuff, and we are with each other even in the moments that are sad.”

Prior to Meghan and Harry’s visit to Nigeria, the Duke made a stop in the UK to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.

Harry made a solo trip, as Meghan opted to stay behind in California with their kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

While in the UK, Harry was somewhat alone as his father and other royal family members “snubbed” the event because they were “too busy” to meet with the prince.

However, Harry received massive support from his late mother, Princess Diana’s siblings, Earl Spencer and Lady Jane Fellowes. According to the DailyMail, the Duke was also greeted by a sizable crowd of royal fans outside St Paul’s cathedral, who chanted, “We love you, Harry!”