Harry and Meghan begin four-day tour of Colombia

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were welcomed to Colombia yesterday as they began their four-day tour of the South American nation. Harry and Meghan were met in the capital Bogota by Colombia’s vice-president Francia Marquez and her husband Rafael Yerney Pinillo.

- LAURA ELSTON

They spent around half-an-hour at the vice-president’s residence, where they exchanged welcome gifts and were offered tea, coffee and traditional pandebono – Colombian cheese bread.

The Sussexes are being given a full security detail throughout their visit alongside Ms Marquez, who invited the couple to travel to Colombia for what has been dubbed a DIY royal tour.

Answering questions from journalists at a press conference ahead of their arrival, Ms Marquez said she was inspired to ask Harry and Meghan to visit the country after being moved by their Netflix documentary.

“I saw the Netflix series about their life, their story and that moved me and motivated me to say that this is a woman who deserves to come to our country and tell her story and her exchange will undoubtedly be an empowerment to so many women in the world,” Ms Marquez said.

The Sussexes’s controversial six-part Netflix show, aired just three months after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, laid bare their troubled relationship with the royal family and the struggles which led to their decision to step back from the working monarchy.

Ms Marquez described the Sussexes’s trip as a “very special visit” aimed at building bridges and joining forces against cyberbullying and online digital violence and discrimination, as well as promoting women’s leadership in Colombia.

The Sussexes’s team has not confirmed how the trip is being funded, whether privately, through Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, by the Colombian government or other means.