Harry and Meghan’s mental health speeches in full: Duke talks about ‘losing loved ones’ while Meghan tells children not to ‘suffer in silence’ during visit to school on first day of Nigeria visit
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left schoolchildren in raptures as the Duke talked about ‘losing loved ones’ while Meghan told them not to ‘suffer in silence’ during a visit to a school on the first day of their 72-hour tour of Nigeria.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with children at the Wuse Lightway Academy this morning, just hours after their arrival in Abuja in the early morning.
Wearing a flowing coral dress, Meghan told the gathered school – which is supported by the couple’s Archewell Foundation – that she can ‘see myself’ in every one of them, as she asked them to ‘be honest with each other’.
And Harry – who appeared alongside her on the green stage – championed the importance of mental health, and referenced when someone has ‘lost a loved one in your family and you don’t know who to turn to or who to speak to’.
The pair left the children cheering as they delivered their message,
Meghan told the children: ‘As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning
Harry and Meghan chat as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
Prince Harry greets students as he arrives at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are welcomed to the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today
Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today
‘So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you.
‘We believe in all of you, we believe in your futures, we believe in your ability to continue telling your stories and to just be honest with each other.
‘There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you’re taking care of yourselves (and) your mental health.
‘So thank you to all of you. Thank you to these teams, to our executive director of the Archewell Foundation, whose birthday is today.’
Prince Harry evoked memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana’s death as he went on to speak to the school children this morning.
The Duke – who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 – added that there was ‘no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day’,
He said: ‘In some cases around the world, in more than you would believe, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health.
‘Too many people don’t want to talk about it, because it’s invisible – something in your mind that you can’t see. It’s not like a broken leg, it’s not like a broken wrist, it’s something we are still relatively unsure of.
Harry and Meghan begin their tour of Nigeria with a trip to the Wuse Lightway Academy today
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning
Harry and Meghan at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today as they speak to children
Prince Harry greets students as he arrives at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
James Holt (left), the executive director of the couple’s Archewell Foundation, in Abuja today
‘But guess what? Every single person in this room – the youngest, the oldest – every single person has mental health.’
He said that people had to ‘look after yourselves to be able to look after other people, and other people have to be able to look after themselves to be able to look after you’, adding: ‘That’s the way it works.’
The Duke continued: ‘And there is no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day, OK? That you woke up this morning feeling sad; that you were at school, feeling stressed; that you’ve lost a loved one in your family and you don’t know who to turn to or who to speak to. All of these things you may even be led to believe are not for conversation.’
He said the Sussexes were ‘here today to tell you that that is not the case’.
Harry continued: ‘Every single one of those things is completely normal, it is a human reaction, whether it’s grief, stress, whatever the feeling is. It comes from an experience that you have had – you can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.
‘So if you take anything away from today, just know that mental health affects every single person.’
The couple flew in together just before 5am following a secret reunion at London Heathrow’s VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.
They then boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.
The Duke of Sussex smiles during his visit to the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
Harry and Meghan take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
The Duchess of Sussex gestures as she arrives at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today
People walk past a sign welcoming Harry and Meghan to Abuja in Nigeria this morning
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning
The Duke and Duchess watch dancers at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning
The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.
It comes after Harry said it was ‘great’ to be back in the UK this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke had been in London since Tuesday to attend events relating to the competition including a thanksgiving service.
Nigerian defence spokesman Brigadier General Tukur Gusau confirmed today that Harry and Meghan arrived in Abuja early this morning.
They will be meeting wounded soldiers and their families in what Nigerian officials have said is a show of support to improve the soldiers’ morale and wellbeing.
Abidemi Marquis, the director of sports at Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, said: ‘This engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for the recovery of our soldiers.,’
Harry served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter co-pilot gunner, after which he founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to offer wounded veterans and service members the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.
Nigeria was among the nations that participated in last year’s edition of the games.
The Nigerian military has touted the Invictus Games as one which could help the recovery of thousands of its personnel who have been fighting the homegrown Boko Haram Islamic extremists and their factions since 2009 when they launched an insurgency.
