Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were said to have made certain royals furious with their trip to Nigeria earlier this year. With their current visit to Colombia, they might not have visited a Commonwealth country, but the couple has received a lot of criticism all the same.
Prince Harry & Meghan – Colombia visit
The trip was arranged after the Sussexes received an invitation from Vice President Francia Márquez, who invited the couple after watching the 2022 Netflix series about their lives.
According to the BBC, Márquez has previously worked extensively on human rights and environmental campaigning, and cyberbullying is the key feature of Harry and Meghan’s visit.
The Sussexes have received a lot of criticism, bullying, and attacks on social media, and are now campaigning to make the internet safe again.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle launched the Parents’ Network just weeks ago. This initiative aims to provide a safe and free support network for parents whose children experience harm on social media.
“I think, one of the scariest things that we’ve learnt over the course of the last 16, 17 years that social media’s been around, and more so recently, is the fact that it could happen to absolutely anybody,” Harry told CBS.
“We always talk about in the olden days if your kids were under your roof, you knew what they were up to; at least they were safe, right? And now, they could be in the next-door room on a tablet or on a phone and can be going down these rabbit holes. And before you know it, within 24 hours, they could be taking their life.”
“It comes down to all of us to be able to spot the true from the fake”
On Thursday last week, Harry and Meghan arrived in Bogota. They spent their first day visiting a school, where they spoke to students about the impact of social media. Later, they also spoke at a summit on digital responsibility, partly arranged by their Archewell Foundation.
“What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets. People are acting on information that isn’t true,” Harry said.
“It comes down to all of us to be able to spot the true from the fake,” he continued.
“In an ideal world, those with positions of influence would take more responsibility. We are no longer debating facts.”
“For as long as people are allowed to spread lies, abuse, harass, then social cohesion as we know it has completely broken down.”
Harry and Meghan also spent time with Colombia’s vice president. They exchanged welcome gifts and had tea at her residence, and of course, a group photo was taken.
According to body language expert Judi James, the photo revealed a fascinating detail about Harry’s stance.
Prince Harry was in ‘discomfort’ during Colombia visit, body language expert claims
“Harry’s pose here looks almost like a nod to his brother William as he adopts his signature ‘fig leaf’ pose with the hands clasped in front of the lower torso,” James told the Mirror.
“It’s a status-lowering pose that can suggest some shyness but it’s not normally in Harry’s repertoire. He seems to want to avoid pulling Royal rank in these initial poses, hence the barrier gesture while Meghan signals greater confident with her arms straight down at her sides.”
While the Sussexes were spotted enjoying music and a dance performance at the school they visited during their first day in Colombia, Judi James claimed that Harry showed discomfort.
“Despite his life-long induction into Royal behaviour it was Meghan who managed to sustain a perfect Royal smile at this performance while Harry’s expressions and body language fluctuated. At times, he was actively laughing and chatting using animated gesticulation but there were also ‘flash’ moments like this when his smile dropped and his facial expression looked almost dour in comparison to his wife’s,” James told the Mirror.
She added: “When he sat watching, there was a lot of pulling and fiddling with his clothes and some foot-shuffling to suggest awkwardness or anxiety while Meghan beside him adopted an elegant pose that didn’t waver.”
Lip reading expert reveals Meghan Markle’s order to Harry
But Prince Harry’s posture and body language were not the only things analyzed. A professional lip reader, Nicola Hickling, revealed how Meghan, at one point, gave her husband a blunt order.
When Harry and Meghan emerged from a building where fans waited to greet them, Hickling noticed how Meghan made a command to Harry, reportedly saying “hand,” to which he responded, “Here you go,” the Mirror reported.
While battling cyberbullying and making the internet a safer place for children are commendable projects, some have criticized Harry and Meghan for making the trip to Colombia in the first place.
Speaking with Express, royal expert and author Robert Jobson claimed locals are asking if the Sussexes are even there to help.
“When Harry and Meghan touched down, it wasn’t just the Colombian sun that made people squint. It was the blinding glare of their celebrity,” Jobson said.
He questioned whether the Sussexes are a “shiny distraction to keep the people from looking too closely at the cracks in the walls” and asked who is paying for their security, flights, and “luxury accommodations.”
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle criticized over Colombia trip
Another royal source spoke to the Daily Mail and raised concerns that the new Colombian government might manipulate Harry and Meghan.
“I’m sure Meghan and Harry mean well, but everyone here is talking about how obviously they are being manipulated,” the source said, per Sky.
“Of course, their star power will be used to bring attention to poor people and certain areas of culture in Colombia … but the reality is the Colombian government has been drowning in scandal since it came in two years ago.”
“They need something to appease people at home and make them look good abroad.”
Harry and Meghan have long claimed that security issues are the key reason they don’t feel comfortable bringing their children to the UK to visit the royals.
Last year, Harry challenged the Home Office over a decision to downgrade his security protection when visiting his home country. When Harry left royal life, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) stripped him of the right to automatic police protection in the UK. Later, the Duke’s offer to pay for protection was rejected because the British police force couldn’t be hired.
As a result, Harry and Meghan traveling to a country like Colombia, while still claiming they don’t feel safe in the UK, has left some royal experts confused.
“14 car and police van convoys”
As per the Independent, journalist Nick Pisa, who accompanied Harry, Meghan, and the vice president, described the security presence as “massive.”
“We’ve seen 14 car and police van convoys carrying the Sussexes through the streets of Bogotá since they arrived this morning and have been on four engagements,” Pisa said.
“There’s a bit of controversy with the vice president over the fact that she seems to travel everywhere by helicopter, but we should say she has been subjected to several death threats and also several attempted assassinations.”
The journalist added: “It does raise serious questions about why Harry thinks that Great Britain might be a little bit too unsafe for him, but he’s happy to stand next to someone who has, unfortunately, quite literally got a target on her back.”
The U.S. Department of State has Colombia on a Level 3 travel advisory, urging visitors to “reconsider travel” due to “crime and terrorism.” Speaking with the Daily Express, former royal butler Anthony Cawdron stated his concerns about Harry and Meghan’s Colombia visit, saying that their stays “seem to have the effect that people question them more.”
“They are putting a burden on a country that may have a limited amount of methods of keeping them safe. I think it’s a distraction that King Charles doesn’t necessarily need, and we just had a successful Olympics and everyone is saluting Team GB, and everyone is happy about that,” Cawdron said.
“This entire tour is the height of Harry’s hypocrisy”
The royal butler isn’t the only one criticizing Harry and Meghan for making the trip to Colombia after claiming the UK isn’t safe enough.
“Every time there’s an official royal tour, an overseas visit, it’s always at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office because of soft diplomacy,” royal reporter Duncan Larcombe said on GB News.
“There’s a reason that’s got to happen. Harry and Meghan have effectively just decided to accept invitations. They went to Nigeria earlier this year. Again, that had nothing to do with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Larcombe added: “It had nothing to do with their status as royals other than they were able to be persuaded to go. I think the question that everyone’s asking is, ‘why on earth are they there?’ What are they trying to achieve?’”
“It’s hard to fit them all in. He always says he can’t come to Great Britain with Meghan because it’s too dangerous without his royal security. Yet he goes to a country that I think I’m right in saying the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned British subjects not to go there.”
Another royal expert, Hilary Fordwich, told Fox: “This entire tour is the height of Harry’s hypocrisy. Yet another stop on their ‘worldwide privacy tour.’”
