The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have started a two-day international trip to focus on their charitable endeavours, while the Royal Family continue with the fallout of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have kicked off a pseudo royal tour in Jordan, while in Harry’s home country, the Royal Family continue to grapple with the fallout of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last week.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex started their whirlwind trip by sitting down with key figures working to support the humanitarian needs of refugees in the country. Meghan and Harry joined a roundtable discussion hosted by the World Health Organisation with individuals from major leading bodies like the United Nations. The couple travelled to Jordan at the invitation of the WHO’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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While their trip is not an official royal visit, given that the Sussexes took a step back from their royal duties in 2020 and relocated to America, they will spend their trip engaging with various charities and philanthropic efforts in the region.
During their two-day visit, Harry and Meghan will meet Jordanian leaders and senior health officials, engage with WHO teams, visit frontline health and mental health programmes and meet World Central Kitchen staff co-ordinating food relief for Gaza from the capital city of Jordan, Amman.
The Duke and Duchess will also visit Questscope at the Za’atari Refugee Camp, home to displaced Syrians, with the aim to further highlight the importance of mental health services, physical rehabilitation, and community-based support for individuals and families affected by war, displacement, and serious illness.
Around the table for the WHO meeting sat senior figures from UN agencies like UNRWA, UNHCR, World Food Programme, Unicef and diplomatic attendees from countries like the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Canada and the EU.
Philip Hall, British Ambassador to Jordan, thanked the Sussexes for travelling to the Middle East, saying: “So I would simply say thank you very much indeed for coming. Your visit, your support, your appreciation of the efforts that the United Nations, including of course, the World Health Organisation, the government of Jordan and others, are making here is enormously appreciated. So thank you for coming.”
A major element of Harry and Meghan’s trip will focus on efforts to support vulnerable communities affected by conflict and displacement, as they will also visit initiatives they have helped fund to medically evacuate children from the war in Gaza to the Middle East nation.
Jordan has received wave after wave of refugees beginning with Palestinians more than 80 years ago, who now number around 2.5 million people, and Syrians who fled conflict in their country until recently ruled by President Bashar al-Assad.
The visit builds on a long-standing partnership with the WHO and follows a joint engagement in London last September, where Dr Tedros and The Duke of Sussex highlighted pioneering research at Imperial College London’s Centre for Blast Injury Studies.
Harry and Meghan’s pseudo royal tour comes just days after Harry’s uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested at his temporary home of Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate.
Andrew was arrested on Thursday morning, spending 11 hours in custody in a Norfolk police station on his 66th birthday. The former prince was released that evening, with Thames Valley Police confirming he is now under investigation on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after allegations he shared sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.
On Tuesday evening, Thames Valley Police further confirmed that police searches at Royal Lodge, which had been underway since Andrew’s arrest, have come to an end. Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Officers have now left the location we have been searching in Berkshire. This concludes the search activity that commenced following our arrest of a man in his sixties from Norfolk on Thursday.
“We understand the significant public interest in this case and our investigation remains ongoing. It is important that our investigators are given the time and space to progress their work. We will provide updates when it is appropriate to do so, but this is unlikely to be for some time.” Andrew had vehemently denied any wrongdoing.