Harry and Meghan’s Nigerian tour sparks frenzy as Duchess of Sussex declares it ‘my country’

Never mind faux-royal, the final leg of Harry and Meghan’s tour of Nigeria seemed decidedly presidential.

From the moment they touched down in Lagos, the Duke and Duchess were shadowed White House-fashion by secret servicemen muttering into earpieces, armed police officers and scowling special forces soldiers.

Not to mention their own, much smaller security team – and a smattering of anxious looking female aides in shift dresses and Adidas trainers who trailed the Duchess.

Or should that be First Lady?

For as this tour has unfolded – and the enthusiasm for the couple grown – so Meghan has grown increasingly stateswoman-like.

Her attire, too, has evolved.

Having opted for neutral shades early on, the Duchess then ‘very quickly got the memo that I need to wear more colour’. She didn’t disappoint Lagos. There were three wardrobe changes, the high point being a stunning canary in a speeding, snaking motorcade.

We counted 16 blacked-out vehicles, but there may well have been more.

All day long the cavalcade crisscrossed the city, the couple’s Lexus 4x4 disgorging them into the sweltering heat at one event after another.

Before leaving for Lagos, for a day of what were mainly billed as cultural events, the Duchess had found time to further burnish her African credentials. Lest there be any doubt, she considers Nigeria her “home”.

Enlightened by a DNA test which, she says, specified that she is 43 per cent Nigerian, she told children at a school on Friday “I see myself in all of you”.

At another event a few hours later she thanked military chiefs for ‘welcoming me home’.

Then during a panel discussion before 50 of Nigeria’s most notable women she spoke more expansively on the subject. “So I want to start by saying thank you very much for just how gracious you’ve all been in welcoming my husband and I to this country,” she said, before pausing for applause and adding, “my country”.

Immediately after her genealogical revelation, she said, she called her mother “because I wanted to know if she had any awareness of it” She added: “It’s been really eye-opening and humbling to be able to know more about my heritage and to be able to know this is just the beginning of that discovery.”

Later, as she stepped off the plane at Lagos, she was wearing, along with a white Carolina Herrera button-down shirt, a skirt fashioned from traditional handwoven Nigerian Aso-Oke fabric gifted to her during their stay in Abuja.

It seemed to perfectly complement the scene before the couple – a traditional dance performance on the airport tarmac.

From there Harry and Meghan opted for a yellow ankle-length dress.

Even among the multi-coloured finery on display during a hotel lunch with prominent Nigerians, some of them African royalty, the dress delivered a powerful message.

Not that we saw much of it when she hurriedly left hand-in-hand with her husband. “Stop taking pictures,” hissed a Nigerian security official to the Mail’s photographer. “If you carry on we will be forced to seize your camera – and investigate you.”

The tour began on Friday in the capital Abuja which, while hardly Stratford-upon-Avon, was beginning to feel genteel in comparison to nervy, crime-riddled Lagos.

“Go, go, go,” screamed an aide to a driver as AK47-toting soldiers positioned across the street were roused from listless indifference.

It was the signal for the Sussexes to move off and, in a flash, the yellow dress was lost somewhere.

The Sussexes visited a school and watched a basketball exhibition, courtesy of the Giants of Africa charity which uses the sport to “educate and enrich the lives of African youth”. Harry said: “What you guys are doing here at Giants of Africa is truly amazing.”

Following his volleyball match the previous day, the Duke tried his hand at shooting a hoop – and scored.

His wife declined to try herself, saying: “Harry’s the athletic one!”

The Duke, who previously on the trip spoken to children about mental health, then began talking with equal fervour about the benefits of sport. “The power of sport can change lives,” he said. “It brings people together and creates community and there are no barriers, which is the most important thing. It’s wonderful to see each and every one of you here today, sitting on this court.”

There was excitement at the promise of more sporting endeavour later. Harry and Meghan were to attend a charity polo match. Would Harry hit the field? But he was merely a spectator. Probably the best call given the sport’s elitist image and the fact that 87 million Nigerians live below the poverty line.

The couple are due to fly back to London today and then return home to California.