Harry and Meghan begin four-day tour of Colombia
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been welcomed to Colombia as they began their four-day tour of the South American nation.
Harry and Meghan were met in the capital Bogota on Thursday by Colombia’s vice-president Francia Marquez and her husband Rafael Yerney Pinillo.
They spent around half-an-hour at the vice-president’s residence, where they exchanged welcome gifts and were offered tea, coffee and traditional pandebono – Colombian cheese bread.
The Sussexes are being given a full security detail throughout their visit alongside Ms Marquez, who invited the couple to travel to Colombia for what has been dubbed a DIY royal tour.
Answering questions from journalists at a press conference ahead of their arrival, Ms Marquez said she was inspired to ask Harry and Meghan to visit the country after being moved by their Netflix documentary.
“I saw the Netflix series about their life, their story and that moved me and motivated me to say that this is a woman who deserves to come to our country and tell her story and her exchange will undoubtedly be an empowerment to so many women in the world,” Ms Marquez said.
The Sussexes’ controversial six-part Netflix show, aired just three months after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, laid bare their troubled relationship with the royal family and the struggles which led to their decision to step back from the working monarchy.
Office workers in London, watching the Duke and Duchess of Sussex´s Netflix documentary (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Ms Marquez described the Sussexes’ trip as a “very special visit” aimed at building bridges and joining forces against cyber-bullying and online digital violence and discrimination, as well as promoting women’s leadership in Colombia.
The Sussexes’ team has not confirmed how the trip is being funded, whether privately, through Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, by the Colombian government or other means.
The quasi-royal tour, which has many similarities to the programme of an official royal overseas visit, is the Sussexes’ second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation’s chief of defence staff.
Harper’s Bazaar magazine, covering the trip as the only words pool, said Ms Marquez shared her personal admiration for Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry´s late mother Diana Princess of Wales (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Meghan and Ms Marquez were pictured embracing as they greeted each other warmly, with Ms Marquez clasping Harry’s hands in her own as they were introduced.
The Sussexes were colour co-ordinated style-wise, with the duchess in a navy halterneck top and trousers and Harry in a dark blue suit and light blue shirt.
During the sit-down chat, Ms Marquez said she shared the same ideals and goals as Harry and Meghan amid their campaign to make the digital world safer for children.
Harry and Meghan visited a local school, the Colegio Cultura Popular, on Thursday and joined a summit, in collaboration with their Archewell Foundation, about creating a healthier digital landscape.
They spoke to children in a session where the class talked about their favourite and least favourite parts of social media, technology and dealing with life on the internet.
Meghan said the group should aim to be “self-reliant and not tech-reliant” while Harry about asked the conversations they have with their families about managing social media and literacy.
Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, is Colombia’s first black vice-president and serves in the country’s first left-wing government, led by president Gustavo Petro.
Harry and Meghan are spending four days in the South American country (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
A former housekeeper who had her first child at 16, Ms Marquez rose to prominence for her opposition to illegal gold mining in her home province and won a prestigious environmental prize for her work.
She spearheaded a 10-day, 350-mile march of 80 women from La Toma to the nation’s capital, resulting in the removal of all illegal miners and equipment from her community.
Ensuring the couple’s security will be a high priority during their stay. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high.
It also describes the country as “seriously afflicted by conflict” with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war.
The duke has meanwhile maintained it is “still dangerous” for Meghan to return to the UK.
He is said to be missing the private funeral of his uncle Lord Fellowes – husband of Diana’s sister Lady Jane Fellowes – in Norfolk later this month due to his security fears.
Harry lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office in February over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK, but he has been given the green light to appeal.
During the case, the court was told Harry believes his children cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe” there and that he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with “additional layers of racism and extremism”.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits, when travel costs would have usually been met by the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant.
