King Charles was said to be “absolutely furious” with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle over the couple’s recent three-day trip to Nigeria, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come shortly after Harry and Meghan returned from Nigeria earlier this week, a source close to King Charles claimed that both the monarch and Prince William were “absolutely furious” with the former royals.
According to author Tom Quinn, Harry and Meghan’s three-day visit to Nigeria over the weekend “confirmed the worst fears” for the Firm because the pair’s trip had “everything you might expect from an official royal visit” even though the couple are no longer working royals.
“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,” Quinn explained to the Mirror on Wednesday.
“Meghan and Harry's speeches and their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals,” Quinn continued, “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.”
Sources within the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit was made “in a private capacity," according to Daily Mail.
The sources also confirmed that neither Buckingham Palace nor the United Kingdom government were “involved in arranging or facilitating their program.”
Still, Harry and Meghan came under fire for the visit because their trip to the West African country appeared as if it could have been a “tour proposed by Buckingham Palace and sanctioned by the British government.”
“[Harry and Meghan] exploited their royal status to the very limit and in every way,” royal expert Michael Cole explained, “trying to give the impression that it was the real thing.”
Cole added that Harry and Meghan “succeeded to such an extent that they will return to California well satisfied with their three days in Nigeria.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Harry and Meghan visited Nigeria over the weekend after receiving an invitation from the nation’s military.
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The royal renegades wrapped up their tour of the West African nation on Sunday shortly after Meghan co-hosted a woman’s leadership event.
"Thank you very much for how graciously you've all been welcoming my husband and I to this country," Meghan, who is of Nigerian descent, said during the visit. “My country.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also reportedly participated in cultural events and a trip to a polo club during their three-day visit.
They also reportedly met injured Nigerian soldiers at one of the nation’s military hospitals.