More questions than answers over Harry and Meghan’s Colombia visit

The Sussexes’ quasi-royal tour produced a stream of glossy images, but reasons behind it remain a mystery

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s four-day quasi-royal tour of Colombia generated a stream of glossy images, along with gushing reports of locals cheering and children dancing.
But as the couple head back home to California, questions remain about why they chose to visit this troubled Latin American country and what exactly they managed to achieve.
There were woolly statements about “uplifting communities” and “showcasing the nation’s heritage”.
But why Colombia and why now? Many feel as baffled today as they did before the couple set foot in Bogota.
Part of the answer may lay in the fact that the entire trip was carefully filtered through their own PR lens.
Unlike a traditional royal tour of old, the media were not invited, save for one handpicked reporter whose job it was to relay each event to newspapers and other outlets across the world.
The chosen journalist was an online reporter from US publication Harper’s Bazaar, who duly filed a brief overview of each engagement.
As the Sussexes had no doubt intended, it was a saccharine-sweet account that took a broad brush approach to detail.
There were very few quotes from anybody, forcing media organisations keen to present a full account scratching around for snippets of video and local accounts published online in an attempt to piece it all together.
With no access, there is no independent scrutiny.
The couple, now operating as private individuals no longer reliant on public funds, can do as they please. It was part of the reason they turned their backs on the royal household and its many constraints, after all.
But by throwing a veil over the tour, they have simply thrown up more questions than answers.
The glimpses of the real heart of the tour, such as Prince Harry’s punchy quotes about social media in an online safety summit in Bogota, surely endeared him to the wider public. Who could not agree with his condemnation of the vile digital sphere in the wake of violent riots that swept the UK following the Southport stabbings?
Yet they were not released by Archewell, the Sussexes’ foundation, or reported by the designated journalist.
It all raises the question; what did the Sussexes want the world to see?
There were multiple outfit changes every day and many official photographs of the Duke and Duchess, there was a spotlight on their work to improve internet safety, and an engagement with Colombia’s Invictus Games team.
But there was no clear thread, no obvious aim.
Colombia is not a country in which the former working royals are well-known. Many, including performers chosen to entertain them, questioned who their VIP guests actually were.
“Who is Meghan?” Justo Valdés, a 70-year-old singer, asked shortly before their arrival in San Basilio de Palenque, the first “free town” in the Americas.
Local journalists admitted that their coverage of the tour had not generated much interest.
One, who did not want to be identified, told The Telegraph that the country faced far more pressing problems.
“People are expecting the government to address these issues rather than focus on a high-profile event with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” they said.
“Although addressing and confronting cyberbullying in children is an important issue, it is not the most pressing problem we face.”
One person who was front and centre was the vice-president, Francia Marquez, whose office orchestrated the entire trip. Her motivation is perhaps more transparent.
By inviting two such high-profile celebrities to tour her country, she has put herself and her own causes firmly in the global spotlight.
She said she viewed the Sussexes as a joint “symbol of resistance” and “rebellion” and felt moved to get in touch after watching their Netflix series, Harry & Meghan.
But Ms Marquez is a divisive figure and her opponents seized upon the invitation as proof that she was not focused on the domestic issues at hand.
Maria Fernanda Cabal, a Right-wing senator who has been positioning herself as a presidential candidate for 2026, said: “The invitation to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex brings absolutely no cultural exchange or anything of the sort.
“It is part of the showmanship of a vice-president who is disconnected from the reality of the country.
“The vice-president is black and, as a minority, should set an example of greatness, of affection towards the population, especially the poor, without resentment or hatred. 
“She should seek out even minimal projects that the community needs, stand by the people, not by royalty.”
The couple’s visit to a town founded by escaped slaves in the colonial era prompted some to predict that the Duchess would speak about her own family history having recently revealed she is 43 per cent Nigerian. Research suggests she is descended from cotton slaves.
The Duke, too, was considered “uniquely positioned” to speak about reparations, with some even calling for him to apologise for his family’s role in the slave trade.
No such references were made. Instead, the couple were there to “listen and learn”, it was said, and to experience the culture and community.
When the couple were in Nigeria in May, Prince Harry said of their decision to travel: “There’s only so much one can do from home and over Zoom. So we look forward to travelling more … there will always be reasons to meet the people at the heart of our work.”
One can only assume that the knowledge the couple have taken back to California from Colombia will inform their future projects, whatever they may be.