Prince Harry and Meghan Markle once "mocked" the British royals for their "tours," but they are set to do the same thing this month with their trip to Nigeria.
"There is this wry smile over the way they said the royals did things, are not the right way to do things, yet they are mimicking that with their own trip," royal expert Rebecca English dished.
"A lot of the people I speak to who know Harry and Meghan — there are a lot of wry smiles on their faces this week," she added. "Because of this idea, they are going on this big trip, there's going to be some cultural events, there's going to be some Invictus events."
The California royal rebels will undertake a tour of Nigeria just days after the Duke's visit to the U.K on May 8. This led Griffiths to add that the duo is trying to "one-up" the British royal family, particularly the senior royals, who have not toured a foreign nation in over six months.
"They want to appear as quasi-royals, they want to carry on conducting quasi-tours as if they are still members of the royal family," royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths told an outlet. "I think the fact they are going to a Commonwealth country when they describe the Commonwealth as Empire 2.0 is a little bit rich."
In their December 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, author Afua Hirsh described the Commonwealth of Nations as nothing more than "Empire 2.0" in its third episode. The completely voluntary organization consists of 56 nations that were once within the British Empire but decided to remain "closely associated" with the U.K. once the empire was dismantled in the mid-20th century. 14 member nations chose to keep the British monarch as their head of state.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a megawatt, reported $100 million dollar deal with Netflix in the autumn of 2020. The contract initially called for documentaries, movies, children's programming and specials highlighting "diversity and inclusion."
The duo struck first with their self-titled, hit six-part docuseries in December 2022, and in that same month, the pair released Live to Lead, about "global justice activists," which went nowhere.
In August 2023, the Duke's Heart of Invictus docuseries sought to "capitalize on the hype and success of Harry & Meghan," but failed to even crack the streamer's daily top ten for show ratings.
The royal rebels' deal with the streaming giant is set to expire in the fall of 2025.
The Nigerian Defense Headquarters stated its members were "honored and delighted" to announce the tour on Monday, April 29, and is expected to provide security for the ex-working royals as they travel throughout the nation. Further details of when the pair will visit the country and where they will go are expected to be released closer to their arrival.
Daily Express reported on English's remarks.
