Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's camp have replied to ongoing claims that the ex-working royals were flown around Nigeria during their "by an airline whose chairman is a fugitive wanted in the U.S."
An insider familiar with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex' situation told The Daily Beast that the couple's travel arrangements within Nigeria were coordinated by the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff. The source also highlighted that Air Peace, Nigeria's and West Africa's largest airline, operates daily flights from Lagos to London Gatwick Airport in Britain.
This follows reports that the founder of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, who facilitated air transport for the Sussexes during their Nigeria tour, is wanted in the U.S. The airline's owner is facing numerous charges related to millions of dollars in alleged fraud, as outlined in a federal indictment from November 2019.
Onyema is accused of "using his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than $20 million from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts."
Reports also reveal that at least one of the local kings whom Harry and Meghan met during their tour has had significant conflicts with U.S. law enforcement. Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, the 56-year-old Oluwo of Iwoland in Western Nigeria, has been jailed and deported twice from the U.S. and has a fraud conviction.
Harry and Meghan's Nigerian trip was criticized by many royal analysts, with one such commentator claiming the duo was trying to "one-up" the British royal family, particularly the senior royals, who have not toured a foreign nation in over six months.
"From the Nigerian perspective, this is going to be a pseudo/quai royal state visit for Harry and Meghan," outspoken royal expert Lady Colin Campbell told an outlet earlier this month. "Ex-royals really have no right to embark on visits of this nature."
Other analysts remained optimistic that the Montecito royal rebels could potentially heal an old rift they initiated with the monarchy.
"If they were to mention the Commonwealth, of which it is a member, in a favorable light in a speech, this would be positive," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams pointed out. "They trashed the institution, Queen Elizabeth's most important legacy, in their documentary. This was not well received as, when they were senior working royals, they were Commonwealth patronages by the late Queen."
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 choose to keep the British monarch as their head of state.
