King Charles and the Duchess of Edinburgh have been dragged into a royal row concerning Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are heading to Colombia after receiving an official invitation from the country’s vice president to raise the country’s profile as a “beacon of culture and innovation”.
However, the move raised eyebrows with some because of the prince’s recent concerns over security.
The trip announcement comes just days after the broadcast of a new interview given by Harry, in which he said he will not take Meghan Markle to the UK over fears of acid and knife attacks after the Government downgraded his state-funded security.
Currently, the US and UK Governments have issued travel advisories to citizens encouraging only essential travel to certain high-risk areas of Colombia.
The US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website says that “Violent crime, such as homicide, assault, and armed robbery, is widespread,” in the country and that “organised criminal activities, such as extortion, robbery, and kidnapping, are common in some areas”.
Despite this, concerns over Harry and Meghan’s decision to accept Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez’s invitation to visit the country may be unfounded as they are not the first members of the British Royal Family to do so.
As recently as November 2023, the UK government sent Prince Harry’s aunt, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh on a three-day official tour of the country where the vice president received her.
Francia Márquez, the Vice President who invited Harry and Meghan, posing with the Duchess of Edinburgh in 2023
Royal.uk
Sophie, 59, who is married to King Charles III’s youngest brother Prince Edward, visited Bogotá and Cali in support of the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
She attended engagements centred around survivors of sexual violence and the rights of women and girls.
Both Bogotá and Cali are areas included in Harry and Meghan’s programme, in addition to the historic city of Cartagena.
In addition, King Charles III and Queen Camilla paid an official visit to Colombia in 2014, when they were still Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
Queen Camilla and King Charles pictured in Colombia in 2014
Getty
Francia Marquez personally invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to ColombiaGetty
As part of a larger tour of Latin America, which included a stay in Mexico, the royal couple’s Colombia trip also included engagements in Bogotá and Cartagena.
Harry and Meghan have not issued an official statement about their trip.
However, Vice President Márquez said she is “pleased” they have accepted her invitation.
The Colombia visit follows another overseas trip for the couple, as they spent three days in Nigeria in May at the invitation of the country’s chief of defence staff to attend events connected with the Invictus Games.