Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s Colombia trip ‘height of hypocrisy’ regarding couple’s safety concerns: experts
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest trip abroad has raised eyebrows among royal experts about their alleged safety concerns.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent the past four days in Colombia at the invitation of Vice President Francia Márquez.
They arrived Thursday in Bogota where they met with Márquez and visited a charter school before taking part in an Insight Session about social media, according to People.
Prince Harry and Markle also met with the country’s Invictus Games athletes on Saturday. That same day, they joined in on a drum lesson and took in other cultural traditions and tours. Similar events continued through Sunday.
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The couple also took part in several discussions and panels on digital safety, a primary focus of the couple’s work through their Archewell foundation.
During one such panel on Aug. 16, Markle told the audience, "We should model how we want our kids to be raised and for the world in which we raise them. It doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t matter who you are. Either you personally or someone you know is a victim to what’s happening online. And that’s something we can actively work on every day to remedy," per People.
The concerns over safety both online and during travel have some experts questioning Harry and Meghan’s thought process.
"This entire tour is the height of Harry‘s hypocrisy," Hilary Fordwich, royal expert, tells Fox News Digital. "Yet another stop on their ‘worldwide privacy tour.'"
She continued, "He has claimed he is concerned regarding security in the U.K. [but] Colombia is ranked far more dangerous."
The U.S. Department of State has Colombia on a Level 3 travel advisory, urging visitors to "reconsider travel" due to "crime and terrorism."
The U.K.’s governmental website has a similar warning, advising "against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia," mentioning the risk of kidnapping and a volatile political situation, on top of crime and terrorism.
"It does seem odd that Harry and Meghan consider London too dangerous to visit without royal protection but are perfectly willing to tour a country that is notorious for its drug-related violence," Christopher Andersen, author of "The King" told Fox News Digital.
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He continued, "Their security detail in Colombia is described as massive, and it had better be. Colombian Vice-President Francia Marquez, who invited Harry and Megan to visit her country and is accompanying them, has been the target of numerous death threats and assassination attempts."
Prince Harry has been in a long, drawn-out legal battle over his request to have access to taxpayer-funded personal protective security.
The legal battle started more than four years ago, when the younger son of King Charles III claimed that he and his family were endangered when visiting his home country because of hostility toward him and his wife, Meghan Markle. The 39-year-old pointed out that the couple had been faced with ruthless hounding by the U.K. news media.
In April, a High Court judge rejected his request to appeal an earlier ruling upholding a government panel’s decision to limit his access to publicly funded security.
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"I think this trip pretty much puts the nail in the coffin of any hopes Harry might have had to convince the King to change his mind," Andersen said.
But it’s not just the security issue that is putting Prince Harry at odds with his father, King Charles III, and brother, Prince William.
Andersen noted, "The Sussexes' decision to visit a risky area of the world isn't what really ruffles royal feathers. Like their visit to Nigeria in May, Harry and Meghan's trip to Colombia has all the trappings of a royal tour – and that makes Prince William and the King furious. The Sussexes don't represent the Crown anymore, and yet for all intents and purposes, wherever they go they are treated pretty much the same way working senior royals are treated when they go abroad."
"Harry and Meghan have plenty of star power on their own, and they don't have to answer to Palace officials who actually draw up the schedules and call all the shots, pushing members of the royal family around like pieces on a chess board. There is an element of jealousy at play here," he added. "Even the King would like to have the kind of freedom Harry and Meghan have to do their own thing."
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"But of course, nobody would care if Harry and Meghan weren't royal, and the appearance that the Sussexes are trading on their ties to the Crown drives King Charles, Queen Camilla, and especially William more than a little nuts."
The relationship between the royal family has been strained ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back from their duties as senior royals and moved to California.
They welcomed son Archie and daughter Lilibet and embarked on several ventures, including deals with Netflix and their Archewell Foundation. Markle also recently launched a lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.
Regarding Markle’s comments on her children’s online safety, Fordwich added, "If she’s really concerned as a mother about her own children, as she claimed, she has destroyed family relationships on both sides, her own family and the royal family. Her children will not grow up with the love and security of having close cousins."
Royal correspondent Russell Myers told Sky News Australia this month, "Members from the royal family have told Harry if he wants a relationship with the rest of the family, then first and foremost, he has got to stop talking about them."
Myers claimed, "They can’t go about making money off their associations with the royal family. They’re going to [have to] sort of realize, if they’re going to have a relationship with the rest of the royal family, they can’t go about trashing them."