After a busy “whirlwind” Mother’s Day weekend spent in Nigeria with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle is excited about more than one souvenir she’s bringing back. Although, neither are tangible items.
The Duchess of Sussex told People magazine that the experience itself was her “best souvenir” from the “really meaningful” trip.
“It was incredibly memorable and special. That alone is the best souvenir to take with us — all the memories we’ve made,” she said. Markle, who shares son Archie and daughter Lilibet with Prince Harry, added that she’s also excited to share her experience and the knowledge she’s gained about her Nigerian heritage with her children and mother, Doria Ragland.
“That’s such a special thing as a mother to know you can do,” she told the publication.
As previously reported by theGrio, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex traveled to Nigeria at the invitation of Nigeria’s chief of defense staff. The trip, which spanned May 10 through May 12, marked the pair’s first official international visit since relocating to the U.S. in 2020.
The couple kept the public abreast of their itinerary through updates to their Archewell Foundation website. In one such update, Markle shared that she spent the day before Mother’s Day celebrating women leaders in Abuja with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization.
According to the update, Markle and Okonjo-Iweala discussed the importance of women leaders in a room of around 50 women from Nigerian society, politics, business, media, and culture. The Duchess, who recently discovered she’s 43% Nigerian, opened up about the power of representation.
“I often find that whatever travels I’ve done, regardless if it’s Nigeria or another country around the world, oftentimes when women reach the peak of success, they leave,” she noted. “But you need to come back home.”
She continued, “You need to at least be a familiar face for the next generation to say, ‘Oh, she looks like me. And I can be that.’ You still always want to come back home because that’s how you’re going to help shift any sort of generational pattern that might be stifling, especially for young girls who need to see someone who looks like them in that same position.”