Resurfaced video shows Meghan Markle subtly ignoring Prince Harry and his nudges as they pose for a photograph during their faux royal tour in Nigeria

Perhaps due to her upbringing just around the corner from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Meghan Markle always felt she was destined for a life of wealth and fame.

‘She wants to be the star of the stage and the star in life’, her father Thomas Markle revealed to an author in 2022.

And she seemed to get her wish when she was catapulted into the international spotlight when she married Prince Harry in a fairytale wedding in May 2018.

However since leaving the Royal Family in January 2020, her regal status has dimmed, and she is now seen as more of a celebrity than a royal.

But all of that seemed to change when Meghan and Harry decided to make a visit to Nigeria in May 2024.

It was as if they went back in time, and the drama of Megxit was reversed, as the couple were treated as though they were royal once again.

The Nigerian hosts were so pleased to have the visitors that some even incorrectly addressed the Duchess as ‘Princess Meghan’ – which she was clearly pleased by.

She was also honoured in a ceremony with the title of ‘Ada Mazi’ – seemingly a title of respect meaning ‘daughter of an aristocrat’ – of the Ancient Arochukwu Kingdom.

And although the Foreign Office had no role in planning the event, make no mistake, the trip was a royal tour in everything but name. 

At one point the British and Nigerian national anthems were played with the couple facing a stage decorated with red, white and blue balloons. 

Despite the whistlestop three-day trip being originally orchestrated to mark ten years of the Invictus Games, with Nigeria hoping to one day host it, critics pointed out that it swiftly dissolved into the ‘Sussex show’.

Looking back on the visit, royal watchers are pointing to one overlooked moment that appeared to show Meghan’s thirst to be the centre of attention.

Resurfaced footage has shown her seemingly refusing to move out of the centre of a staged photo, despite being nudged by her husband’s hand to make room.

The awkward moment shows Meghan not moving to allow Harry to stand beside her, causing him to be relegated to unnaturally standing behind her instead.

One of the representatives, a lady wearing green standing on the other side of Harry, attempts to scootch over to make room for him, but Meghan does not seem to want to do the same.

The Prince has what appears to be a scowl on his face during the encounter, while Meghan has a beaming smile throughout.  

The clip was taken on the second day of the trip while the couple posed with representatives following a reception for military families and the widow association at the Nigerian Defense Headquarters Officers Mess in Abuja.

As well as being the centre of the photo, Meghan drew gasps from onlookers when she walked in wearing a figure-hugging shoulderless St Agni full length white dress.

The choice of such a revealing outfit  caused some commentators to question its suitability in a country with a more reserved formal dress code.

It seems Meghan’s dominance in the photo was similar to the notorious September 2021 Time magazine cover photo which showed Harry appearing behind Meghan’s shoulder.

The Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden discussed the picture on a recent episode of Reading the Royals, commenting: ‘A clear reversal of the roles we might have expected as he is the royal.

Some experts have argued that over time, the couple’s behaviour has revealed a shifting power dynamic in Meghan’s favour.

And the short video clip showing Meghan’s reluctance to give up the centre of the stage seemed to distract from the couple’s mission in Nigeria. 

The event was a chance for the couple to speak to families of servicemen and women, as they also announced a new planned Invictus Centre that will be a haven of physical and mental rehabilitation for wounded service personnel.

Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick service members and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 15-year war against Islamic extremists. 

Meghan and Harry later attended a fundraiser for Nigeria’s soldiers wounded in the country’s fight and other armed groups in the country’s conflict-hit north. 

However the awkward clip was one of the few occasions during the trip that the Sussexes were not able to completely control how the media reported the event.

Behind the scenes, it was all carefully orchestrated beforehand by the couple’s top aide, Miranda Barbot – a PR expert who was part of the team behind Barack Obama’s re-election.

Media access was controlled with an iron fist, as every element of the tour was expertly managed to present the Duchess in the best possible light. 

Instead of a pack of press reporters, only one reporter and one photographer – presumably hand-picked to deliver nothing but glowing coverage – were allowed full access.

Some commentators even suggested the tour had a distinctly presidential feel to it, fuelling the rumours that Meghan is harbouring ambitions to one day run for office in America. 

Kinsey Schofield, LA-based royal commentator and host of the To Di For Daily podcast, told The Standard the couple seemed to use the trip as self-promotion.

She said: ‘They were significantly late to multiple events and appearances. 

‘They spoke of themselves instead of using their platform to spotlight some of the injured service people they met throughout their trip. 

‘These are the types of PR errors that a palace courtier would have managed and avoided. It made the entire execution appear self-serving.’

And although the lack of support from the Palace had some negatives, there were also positives. 

While on the trip, Meghan reportedly came home with 20 gifts, which she would not have been allowed to keep if she was still a working member of the Royal Family. 

However despite the Sussexes getting a lot out of the trip to Nigeria, the nation seemed to be happy with their visit. 

Africa’s most populous country gained independence from Britain in 1960 and became a republic three years later, but it has kept an affection for the Royal Family.

Royal expert Michael Cole told MailOnline after the trip that although the couple were on ‘a private visit by two royal personages’, they ‘exploited their royal status to the very limit and in every way, trying to give the impression that it was the real thing’.

He said that although the Sussexes’ trip ‘wasn’t a state visit, an official visit or a royal tour’, it seemed like a ‘tour proposed by Buckingham Palace and sanctioned by the British government’. 

Mr Cole added that Buckingham Palace had ‘watched events closely in Nigeria’, adding: ‘Are we seeing the Sussexes trying to create an alternative court, based on their hilltop Camelot in Montecito?’ 

Their visit came at an important time for Meghan, as she had revealed on her Archetypes podcast in October 2022 that she found out through the DNA-based test that she was ’43 per cent Nigerian’. 

On the visit, she thanked Nigerians for welcoming her to ‘my country’ as she hopes she can ‘do justice’ to being a ‘role model’.

She later added: ‘It’s been eye-opening to be able to know more about my heritage.’

Elsewhere on the trip, Meghan was also the centre of attention when she was honoured as an ‘Ada Mazi’ – seemingly a title of respect meaning ‘daughter of an aristocrat’ – of the Ancient Arochukwu Kingdom.

Three Kings – His Eminence Engr Eberechukwu Oji, Eze Aro of Ancient Arochukwu Kingdom, Igwe Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha and Great Olu Of Warri Kingdom – took part in the naming ceremony.

Many remarked how significant the occasion was, given that the Kings are understood to rarely leave their home state unless it’s for a very special event or guest.

Meghan wore a golden sash depicting the Ada Mazi title and also held onto a fabric depicting the ‘Oru-Arochukwu’ insignia. 

Arochukwu is ‘one of the foremost ancient kingdoms in Africa’, as reported by local newspaper Punch, and is located in the north of Abia State. 

Prince Harry also spoke to the gathering, describing those in the room as his ‘in laws’, adding: ‘I’ll skip the protocol because at this point we’re all family.’

He continued: ‘Thank you for welcoming my wife and myself to Nigeria. It’s our first visit. It certainly won’t be our last. Thank you for the naming ceremony.

‘I don’t know how I got dragged into that as well, but to be able to witness it as well next to my wife, it means a huge amount to both of us but especially her, so thank you for that.’

At another point, Yoruba King, Oluwo of Iwo, bestowed on the Duchess the Yoruba name Adetokunbo, which translates as ‘the crown or royalty from a foreign land’. 

At the end of May, Meghan wrote to the leader to thank him for his hospitality and for honouring her with a Nigerian name – which she said left her ‘deeply humbled’. 

However, despite the lavish praise of her new name and title, Meghan does not seem to have used either of them much since the visit.   

The couple seemed to like being the centre of attention in Nigeria so much that they went on a second international tour to Colombia a few months later in August.

Yet again, they were given a stately welcome fit for royalty. 

It seems both trips have given the Sussexes a taste of what life is like in the limelight, and they seem to want another helping. 

In February, the Mail on Sunday’s Editor at Large, Charlotte Griffiths, broke the exclusive story that another royal tour is being lined up for Ghana.

The West African country, a member of the Commonwealth, is the frontrunner among a string of nations in that part of the continent who have invited the couple to experience their culture, according to insiders.

It seems the trip to Nigeria was only the beginning of Harry and Meghan’s quest to become ‘huge stars in Africa’ – with more tours being central to their strategy.

Should a visit go ahead, the couple would be afforded a royal welcome with top dignitaries, politicians and Ghanaian celebrities. 

Once again, Meghan will be the centre of attention, but maybe this time, she will make sure there is also room for Harry in all the photographs.