Prince Harry and Meghan Markle landed in Nigeria Friday morning to begin a three-day visit to the West African nation.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in Abuja, the capital city, following Harry’s brief visit to London earlier in the week. The couple’s first engagement in Nigeria took place at the Lightway Academy, a school which receives support from their Archwell Foundation.
The royals were greeted at the school by dancers and they met some of the school’s younger students. They also spoke at the school about the importance of mental health and the need to talk to others about it.
“In some cases around the world, in more than you would believe, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health,” Harry said. Too many people don’t want to talk about it ‘cause it’s invisible. It’s something in our mind that we can’t see.”
“But guess what? Every single person in this room, the youngest, the oldest, every single person has mental health,” he continued. “So therefore, you have to look after yourself to be able to look after other people.” Harry also said “there is no shame” in acknowledging that you’re having a bad day.
“You see why I’m married to him?” Meghan said to cheers when she took the microphone from her husband.
The couple also spoke about their own children. Meghan said Lilibet, their 2-year-old daughter, had told recently remarked on seeing her own reflection in Meghan’s eyes, saying: “‘I see me in you.’” The princess said she’d “hung onto those words in a very different way” than the literal sense in which her daughter spoke them, telling the assembled students: “As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.”
Meghan also mentioned her son Archie when she was introduced to a 5-year-old at the school. “Our son Archie’s 5,” she said. “He turned 5 last week.”
The Sussexes were invited to Nigeria by General Christopher Musa, the country’s chief of defense staff. They’ll visit injured service members during the visit and promote the Invictus Games—the sporting event founded by Harry for injured military personnel and veterans.
