Prince Harry and Meghan Markle touched down in Nigeria earlier this week, with their trip to West Africa poised to ‘boost their popularity and value of brand’, according to an expert

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Nigeria trip is poised to “boost their popularity, value and brand”, according to a royal expert.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Nigeria in the early hours of Friday morning, following Prince Harry’s short but sweet trip to the United Kingdom. The couple are visiting the West African country on a 72-hour whistle-stop tour.

After Harry’s solo trip to the UK, he reunited with his wife at Heathrow. Meghan landed in the UK on Thursday after she flew in from Los Angeles. She was seen waiting for Harry at the airport in the VIP Windsor Suite.

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Meghan briefly visited the UK to reunite with her husband before they jetted to West Africa

Harry departed the UK and is now in Nigeria
And now royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams has revealed that the couple’s trip is “clearly designed to boost the value of their brand”. He exclusively told The Mirror: “The Sussexes are about to embark on a tour of Nigeria, which is linked to the Invictus Games which celebrated ten years at St Paul’s, with Earl Spencer and his sister Lady Jane Fellowes among the guest. No members of the Royal Family attended.”

He added that he believes the couple’s Nigerian trip “is clearly designed to boost the value of their brand, which has clearly diminished since TIME Magazine listed them as one of the world’s most influential couples in 2021”. Noting: “Their popularity is also lower in the United States where William topped a Gallup poll last year.”

Mr Fitzwilliams then said that Meghan’s discovery that she is 43 per cent Nigerian and “some specially selected photo opportunities should be successful, as their South Africa trip was in 2019, before they confessed their unhappiness at being senior working royals whilst on tour which caused shock”.

This comes after the couple touched down in West Africa after they boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja. Their flight was hit with a delay after the scheduled pilot was sick and a replacement had to be found.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were sat in First Class and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain. When they arrived in Abuja, other travellers were held back as they were escorted off the plane.