CELEBRITY
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are kicking off the second day of their trip to Nigeria with an engagement related to the Invictus Games.
On Saturday, May 11, Meghan — who stepped out in a black and white cutout silk midi dress by Johanna Ortiz — and Harry attended a training session for Nigeria: Unconquered, a national charity working in collaboration with the Invictus Games Foundation. Their visit focused on sports recovery, and they observed a basketball match and training session with athletes.
Upon arriving at the Defense Headquarters Officers’ Mess in Abuja, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was promptly escorted to watch a sitting volleyball game. As they settled into their seats in the arena, they were presented with scarves in Nigeria’s green and white colors.
After about 15 minutes, Harry was invited to join in. His colleagues shouted, “Team Harry!” Animated Meghan clapped for every point, regardless of which team scored, but she had a big smile and cheered when Harry scored his first point. Once Harry took his place on the court, a young girl named Tiwa Akanbi, 9, was ushered forward to meet the Duchess of Sussex. “She said Prince Harry loves to play volleyball and that he’s very good at it. And she asked me if I play volleyball in my school. And I said yes,” Tiwa tells PEOPLE.
Adds her mom, Desola Akanbi, 47: “She’s always wanted to meet her. She said last night, ‘When am I going to meet ‘Auntie Meghan?’ ” At the end of the match, Harry was surrounded by players and their families, and Meghan walked over to join the group photo with the teams. As the impromptu photo opportunity concluded, Meghan was warmly embraced by a crowd of women eager to show their appreciation.
Many of them were wearing dresses made from the same black, white, and gold fabric, and they handed some to the Duchess. “We are friends and family supporters of Harry and Meghan,” Peace Adetoro, 57, tells PEOPLE. “They are a beautiful couple and we love them so much. We support them 100%.”
Royalty Ojeh, the 6-year-old daughter of Nigeria: Unconquered’s executive director, was dressed in her best white dress and handed Meghan some roses. The Duchess took one from the bouquet and handed one back to her. “She was nice,” Royalty says. Nigeria made its debut at the Invictus Games in September 2023 during the latest cycle of the competition in Düsseldorf, Germany. There, Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, interacted with athletes from the Nigerian team and fans in the stands.
During the first day of the mini-tour on Friday, Harry reflected on the impact and enthusiasm the Nigerian team brought to the games in Germany. Nigeria: Unconquered defines its vision as working to “achieve effective Mental and Physical rehabilitation and recovery of all personnel injured or wounded on the battlefield and refocus their minds and journey towards sports as a way of life, and help them find new purpose.”
The vision dovetails with the mission of the Invictus Games, the adaptive sports tournament Prince Harry founded for service personnel and veterans in 2014 and commemorated the anniversary of in London earlier this week. Meghan revealed on her Archetypes podcast in 2022 that she learned she has Nigerian heritage through a genealogy test, and Harry joked in his opening remarks at the 2023 Invictus Games that his wife was rooting for the Nigerian team.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s trip to Nigeria is significant as their first international tour since stepping back from their royal roles in 2020, and the couple traveled abroad at the invitation of the Chief of Defense Staff, the country’s highest ranking military official.
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