Prince Harry & Meghan Markle To Visit Colombia’s First ‘Free Town’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to embark on a visit to Colombia, the place they’ll go to the nation’s first “free city” and expertise its famend music pageant.

Nonetheless, their extremely anticipated journey has been clouded by controversy, with residents accusing the Colombian authorities of utilizing the couple’s star energy to divert consideration from a string of scandals.

A royal professional likened Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s go to to a “quasi-royal” tour and in addition claimed that the Duke of Sussex desires to make use of the journey to spice up his spouse’s standing.

Particulars concerning the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s itinerary on their journey to Colombia are starting to return out.

In line with a report, the couple will go to the nation’s first “free city” for escaped enslaved individuals and witness a music pageant in Cali.

Harry and Meghan can be proven across the small city of San Basilio de Palenque, which UNESCO declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

The city, which has a inhabitants of round 3,500, was based by escaped slaves as a refuge within the seventeenth century. This implies its group and cultural area are closely influenced by its African heritage.

San Basilio de Palenque is a well-liked day journey for vacationers from Cartagena and is the one surviving Palenque secret fort village.

Colombian politician Alejandro Eder, who’s the mayor of Cali, additionally disclosed that the couple will go to the Petronio Alvarez Competition on Sunday.

The pageant is held each August as a celebration of Afro-Colombian music and tradition in Latin America.

Eder made the revelation whereas talking at a tourism congress earlier this month, saying, “They’re going to come to Cali and spend a day within the metropolis.”

“They’ll go to the Petronio Alvarez Competition within the metropolis and so they’re additionally going to go to different social initiatives,” he added, per the Every day Mail.

In the meantime, Harry and Meghan’s Colombia go to has sparked controversy amongst its residents, who suppose they’re getting used as “political pawns” to divert consideration from the scandals which have trailed the regime.

Though Colombia’s Vice President Francia Marquez mentioned the couple can have an “distinctive alternative to have interaction with elders, youth, and girls who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians… and illuminate Colombia’s position as a beacon of tradition and innovation,” a Bogota lawyer informed the Every day Mail that they are being “manipulated.”

“I am certain Meghan and Harry imply properly, however everybody right here is speaking about how clearly they’re being manipulated,” the supply mentioned.

The lawyer added, “In fact, their star energy will likely be used to convey consideration to poor individuals and sure areas of tradition in Colombia… however the actuality is the Colombian authorities has been drowning in scandal because it got here in two years in the past. They want one thing to appease individuals at dwelling and make them look good overseas.”

The couple’s journey has been likened to a “quasi-royal” tour, which Harry allegedly desires to make use of to “elevate Meghan Markle to the standing accorded to her.”

Chatting with The Telegraph, royal creator Anna Pasternak mentioned there was a “actual parallel” of non-working royals being invited by overseas governments as “non-public residents” and accepting.

She in contrast the Sussexes’ upcoming journey to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s notorious 1937 journey to Germany following the abdication disaster.

“They accepted [the invitation] as a result of Edward felt so damage and angered by the best way Wallis had been rejected by the Royal household, and he desperately wished her to expertise the pomp and ceremony of a royal tour,” the royal professional mentioned.

“He wished Wallis to be addressed as HRH and for individuals to curtsy to her. I am not suggesting that Harry desires the pomp and ceremony of a Royal tour, however there’s a feeling that he’d like [to elevate] Meghan to the standing accorded to her,” she added.

Pasternak additional defined that the previous working royals “actually worth the approval of the individuals of the nation they’re visiting.”

“They’ll go and be honored in their very own proper. When you could have this quasi-royal standing, you are seen internationally as a royal, and also you’re handled as such on tour, however you do not have the safety of the Overseas Workplace,” she continued.

The royal creator additionally emphasised that the journey “is a high-risk tour for” Harry and Meghan.