King ‘offered Harry royal residence’ for UK trip but prince ‘turned it down’ live

Meghan Markle has opened up about a touching conversation she recently had with Princess Lilibet on the first day of her whistlestop tour of Nigeria.

The couple arrived to a warm welcome in the country this morning (10 May) to begin a three-day tour as private citizens to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited a charity that works with the Invictus Games.

The Sussexes attended an event at Nigeria Unconquered on Saturday – day two of their three day trip to Africa.

The duke also attended an event in the Armed Forces Complex in Abuja.

The sight of Harry flying in, but unable to see his father will have saddened many. But, embarking on a ‘mini royal tour’ in Nigeria isn’t going to help heal family rifts which feel as raw as ever, says Tessa Dunlop.

Read Tessa’s piece in full here:

King Charles is still “wary” about meeting Prince Harry after his son’s exit from the royal family and the “media circus” surrounding visits, a friend has said.

The friend also rubbished the idea that the monarch could not find time to see Harry on his short trip to the UK last week.

“It’s all very sad,” Charles’s friend told The Sunday Times. “While it is true that the King is understandably wary about meeting with Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he did of course agree to see his son at the most vulnerable moment of his illness [in February], and at very short notice.

“While he was hardly going to roll out the red carpet the moment this Invictus trip was announced, with doctors advising him to focus on his treatment and recovery, the idea that he refused to find space in his diary … well, let’s say recollections may vary once again.”

The King reportedly agreed to a request from Prince Harry to stay in a royal residence for his trip to the UK last week.

Charles agreed because he was mindful that his son no longer has an official residence in the UK, The Sunday Times reported.

But Harry decided to stay at a hotel during his three-day visit, the paper said.

Meghan Markle opened up about her “very chatty, sweet children” Archie and Lilibet during a talk at a women’s leadership event in Nigeria.

The Duchess of Sussex said “I love being a mum” and had fulfilled her dreams by becoming a parent.

She was speaking at a Women in Leadership event she was co-hosting with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization.

During the panel discussion, Ms Markle also said that the “balance” in her life has changed over the years and looks different to ten years ago before she was married and had Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

“What I think that to mean now is that that balance will always change for you,” she said, Hello magazine reported. “That balance, what seems balanced ten years ago is going to shift.”

Prince Harry spoke movingly about mental health while visiting a school in Nigeria on Friday – telling students that there is “no shame” in having a bad day.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, opened up about the bereavements he has suffered in his life, telling the young people that it is okay to acknowledge difficult feelings.

At the time, the couple promised to still “regularly” visit the UK, but after leaving almost four years ago, they have only returned from their new home in California a handful of times.

Meghan has not been in the country since the Queen’s funeral in September 2020 and she chose to skip King Charles’s coronation in May of last year.