Washington: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may move to Africa for about three years for an international job involving the Commonwealth, charity work and helping to promote the UK, media reports suggest.
According to The Sunday Times, as cited by E! News, Harry’s advisers have been working on plans to establish a “bespoke” role for him and his wife abroad that would “combine some work on behalf of the Commonwealth along with charity work and a role promoting Britain.”
Though the discussions are at a nascent stage, the development comes as Meghan’s due date inches closer.
“Discussions are at an early stage, but the plan is to find a new way of using their soft power abilities, most likely in Africa,” a source told the outlet.’
Buckingham Palace, however, has termed the report as ‘speculative.’
In a recent statement, it said, “Any future plans for the Duke and Duchess are speculative at this stage. No decisions have been taken about future roles. The Duke will continue to fulfill his role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.”
According to the publication’s report cited by E! News, the plan has been drawn up by Sir David Manning, the former British ambassador to the U.S. and special adviser on constitutional and international affairs to both Harry and his brother Prince William, and that Lord Geidt, their grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s former private secretary and chairman of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, has also been involved in the discussions.
The palace insiders said that an overseas role for the couple would last two or three years and that any decision on where they would go was unlikely to be made until 2020. Reportedly, the Africa proposal was made after other ideas for overseas roles for the couple were rejected.
This news comes weeks after Harry and Meghan moved away from Kensington Palace, where they were William and wife Kate Middleton’s neighbors and moved into Frogmore Cottage at the Queen’s Windsor Castle estate.
Africa holds a very special place in both Harry and Meghan’s hearts. He spent his gap year in Lesotho in 2004 and later co-founded the charity named Sentebale there. In 2016, the couple took a romantic trip to Botswana. A year later, they celebrated Meghan’s 36th birthday there.
Harry had also visited the country alone as part of his work for Rhino Conservation and has earlier called it his “second home.” After their wedding, the two also honeymooned in East Africa.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]