Harry and Meghan: Tour of Southern Africa - September 23-October 2, 2019

[theroyalfly]

This is going to be an amazing trip with Baby Archie in there.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

My guess is that Meghan might have a solo engagement in SA but I suspect once Harry leaves that she and Archie will he heading back home. I doubt she stays in SA unless they close out the tour there, which I find unlikely.

if she stays on waiting for Harry to return to fly back together there will be lots of criticism of Meghan taking a vacation at the taxpayers expense, we'll see if they are smarter than that.

 

[Abbigail]

[-][/-]

if she stays on waiting for Harry to return to fly back together there will be lots of criticism of Meghan taking a vacation at the taxpayers expense, we'll see if they are smarter than that.

And if they took separate flights back, there would be no criticism of how much taxpayer money was being spent? There will be criticism either way. We will have to wait for more details but I'm sure if Meghan does stay, she won't just be sitting back, waiting for Harry to return.

 

[Lumutqueen]

if she stays on waiting for Harry to return to fly back together there will be lots of criticism of Meghan taking a vacation at the taxpayers expense, we'll see if they are smarter than that.

Of course the uninformed press, and others, would take that view except it can go four ways perhaps.

1. Meghan flies home with Archie.
2. Meghan goes officially on holiday in SA after Henry flies out and flies home with him either immediately after the end of the tour or they all have a family holiday.
3. Meghan stays in SA and does engagements by herself.
4. Meghan stays in SA and doesn’t do engagements but isn’t on holiday.


Seeing as the only think the taxpayer pays for is security, then the level of security with Meghan in all four scenarios is at exactly the same level. So I really don’t see the issue if she stays in SA.

 

[Abbigail]

Chris Ship says the tour is in mid-September, starts and finishes in SA and that Meghan and Archie will stay there until Harry rejoins them.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1144318582169505792

 

[Lumutqueen]

Chris Ship says the tour is in mid-September, starts and finishes in SA and that Meghan and Archie will stay there until Harry rejoins them.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1144318582169505792

Actually in the article he linked (and wrote), it basically says everything he’s wrote in the tweet is not confirmed. Whilst the Instagram post hints at “first Royal tour as a family” it is unknown if Archie will go, and it’s unknown whether Meghan will stay in SA or come back to the UK.

 

[jacqui24]

As with all things Sussex, we can't just do with whatever information announced, can we?

There will be a tour this Fall (Spring in the Southern Hemisphere), and they will both carry out engagements in South Africa with Harry also going to engagements in Botswana, Angola, and Malawi. And first tour as family, that, along with the fact that Meghan isn't going to other countries other than South Africa, is pretty obvious. That's already a lot information people. Can't we just wait on the rest?

BTW, when I say we, I mean in general. I realize media is coming out with a lot of speculation and information that's not confirmed or given to them by BP, which contributes to the frenzy.

 

[Abbigail]

Actually in the article he linked (and wrote), it basically says everything he’s wrote in the tweet is not confirmed. Whilst the Instagram post hints at “first Royal tour as a family” it is unknown if Archie will go, and it’s unknown whether Meghan will stay in SA or come back to the UK.

Well yes, I read the article. I figured the info he tweeted were new details he got from a source, not that it's confirmed by the palace. It may very well turn out to be false. I was just posting the update.

 

[Lumutqueen]

There will be a tour this Fall (Spring in the Southern Hemisphere),

The only thing I don’t get about the release of information, is them not releasing a date today. Up until this point I was quite happy knowing a tour was happening. But they’ve chosen to release a level of information today, confirming the 4 places the tour will include and that Meghan will take part. Why not release the dates? We know for a fact they know when they’re going, a tour like this has been set for several months. It’s a running theme at the minute, and it may be Sussex Royal and KP attempting to keep some control over the flow of information but I don’t see the point.

 

[ACO]

It is definitely a running theme -- of the royal correspondents jumping to announce any tidbit they discover because they want to be the first. The issue with that which has been proven over and over is that the details tend to be wrong. Then they have to go back and correct it. Why not just wait for the official release instead of doing all of this silliness?

 

[Mbruno]

Chris Ship says the tour is in mid-September, starts and finishes in SA and that Meghan and Archie will stay there until Harry rejoins them.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1144318582169505792

While it makes sense for Meghan and Archie to stay in Cape Town (or Johannesburg ?) for most of the trip, I anticipate many people will ask why Meghan is going on the tour when she is going to miss a large part of it. I also think it is inevitable that she will be accused of going on vacation in Cape Town (a prime tourist destination) at the expense of the British taxpayers.


That can be partly fixed by arranging a relevant parallel program for Meghan in SA while Harry is away (and leaving Archie with the nanny in the mean time), but my personal opinion still is that Archie should be left home in the UK or, if Meghan wouldn't agree to it, that Harry should travel alone to Africa.

 

[Pranter]

Seeing as we don't know yet what she will be doing in Cape while Harry is in Angola etc...I think it's a bit premature to start with the 'vacation' senarios.


LaRae

 

[amaryllus]

It makes logical sense from any standpoint in terms of convenience, practically health and safety to simply leave Archie in Britain. Babies usually don’t travel and just well all that change of routine anyway

 

[ACO]

I don't think it was ever an option of leaving their son back while they are away for almost 2 weeks. My guess it was either going to be all of them or Meghan was not joining Harry on tour at all.

 

[muriel]

I don't think it was ever an option of leaving their son back while they are away for almost 2 weeks. My guess it was either going to be all of them or Meghan was not joining Harry on tour at all.

Given how young A will be at the time, why do Megan and Archie bother going, let Harry go and do the tour on his own?

 

[jacqui24]

The only thing I don’t get about the release of information, is them not releasing a date today. Up until this point I was quite happy knowing a tour was happening. But they’ve chosen to release a level of information today, confirming the 4 places the tour will include and that Meghan will take part. Why not release the dates? We know for a fact they know when they’re going, a tour like this has been set for several months. It’s a running theme at the minute, and it may be Sussex Royal and KP attempting to keep some control over the flow of information but I don’t see the point.

Do we have examples of how others announce tours? I know when the Oceanic tour was announced, it was with even less information. And then more details are announced closer to it with full itinerary released (barring embargoed engagements) right before it. Sometime it might be because not everything has been nailed down yet, but it’s good enough that they know it’ll happen. And with so much interest and scrutiny, they would want to just put the are they or aren’t they out officially.

It makes logical sense from any standpoint in terms of convenience, practically health and safety to simply leave Archie in Britain. Babies usually don’t travel and just well all that change of routine anyway

That’s not true. I’ve been on plenty of planes with other passengers that have babies with them. I don’t know many parents would be willing to leave their child for this long at that age.

Given how young A will be at the time, why do Megan and Archie bother going, let Harry go and do the tour on his own?

I find this question to be a bit odd. A woman with a child that age can work. Most of my friends who have had children went back after 12 weeks, although the lucky ones get some adjustment (one of my friends requested not to travel until her child is 6 months old since she can’t take the baby with her and she was still breastfeeding). And if they think they are ready when requested by FO, why wouldn’t they go? Like traveling at any age, it’ll be more difficult than when it was just them, but obviously they aren’t first ones to travel with a baby.

 

[Mbruno]

Do we have examples of how others announce tours? I know when the Oceanic tour was announced, it was with even less information. And then more details are announced closer to it with full itinerary released (barring embargoed engagements) right before it. Sometime it might be because not everything has been nailed down yet, but it’s good enough that they know it’ll happen. And with so much interest and scrutiny, they would want to just put the are they or aren’t they out officially.



That’s not true. I’ve been on plenty of planes with other passengers that have babies with them. I don’t know many parents would be willing to leave their child for this long at that age.



I find this question to be a bit odd. A woman with a child that age can work. Most of my friends who have had children went back after 12 weeks, although the lucky ones get some adjustment (one of my friends requested not to travel until her child is 6 months old since she can’t take the baby with her and she was still breastfeeding). And if they think they are ready when requested by FO, why wouldn’t they go? Like traveling at any age, it’ll be more difficult than when it was just them, but obviously they aren’t first ones to travel with a baby.

I am not an expert on babies, but taking a six-month baby on a 12-hour flight (?) and submit him to a major change of routine and environment for two weeks cannot be advisable.

I accept that Meghan wouldn’t like to leave her baby home alone for so long at such a young age ( when she may be still breastfeeding and all) , but she does have the option of not going herself. Her presence is not strictly necessary and she will have plenty of opportunities to go to Africa in the future.

 

[jacqui24]

I am not an expert on babies, but taking a six-month baby on a 12-hour flight (?) and submit him to a major change of routine and environment for two weeks cannot be advisable.

I accept that Meghan wouldn’t like to leave her baby home alone for so long at such a young age ( when she may be still breastfeeding and all) , but she does have the option of not going herself. Her presence is not strictly necessary and she will have plenty of opportunities to go to Africa in the future.

There is no difference in that regard if we are talking about a 6 months old or 8 months old or 9 and so on. Same can even be said for a toddler. It is not exactly a walk in the park, yet it’s typical of royal tours. And they aren’t exactly traveling like us average folks, which does make the journey easier. There is obviously work they want to do. And they think they can do it now. Good for them. I’m sure if they feel the need to adjust as they go along, they have the means and they’ll figure it out.

And let’s not forget and make it all about would Meghan leave her son behind for so long, would Harry want to leave his son behind for this long?

 

[Abbigail]

While it makes sense for Meghan and Archie to stay in Cape Town (or Johannesburg ?) for most of the trip, I anticipate many people will ask why Meghan is going on the tour when she is going to miss a large part of it. I also think it is inevitable that she will be accused of going on vacation in Cape Town (a prime tourist destination) at the expense of the British taxpayers.


That can be partly fixed by arranging a relevant parallel program for Meghan in SA while Harry is away (and leaving Archie with the nanny in the mean time), but my personal opinion still is that Archie should be left home in the UK or, if Meghan wouldn't agree to it, that Harry should travel alone to Africa.

I anticipate that there will be criticism no matter what they decide. So Harry and Meghan should go with what works for them and not worry about what angle people will run with to criticize them.

 

[Countessmeout]

I can only imagine the criticism if Meghan flies there for a few days and home. The travel is the most expensive part of the trip for them. It makes more sense especially if Harry will end his trip as in last event there anyways.

I could see Meghan doing an event or two when he is gone. Perhaps a visit to an university to tie in with the ACU.

Except the flight arrival and leaving I am not sure we will see Archie. Not because not HRH. But becayse bit younger then George was.

As for why Meghan goes at all, she is a working Royal and this part of her job. Six months is longer maternity then women in many places. Not first royal woman yo take a baby with her, not just Kate. Victoria in Sweden did when hers were really little.

 

[ACO]

Given how young A will be at the time, why do Megan and Archie bother going, let Harry go and do the tour on his own?

Why not go? There is no pressing issue to not travel. I have been on planes with babies that age and younger.

I anticipate that there will be criticism no matter what they decide. So Harry and Meghan should go with what works for them and not worry about what angle people will run with to criticize them.

Basically. They will do what is right for them. People will fine fault in anything and everything regardless.

 

[muriel]

I find this question to be a bit odd. A woman with a child that age can work. Most of my friends who have had children went back after 12 weeks, although the lucky ones get some adjustment (one of my friends requested not to travel until her child is 6 months old since she can’t take the baby with her and she was still breastfeeding). And if they think they are ready when requested by FO, why wouldn’t they go? Like traveling at any age, it’ll be more difficult than when it was just them, but obviously they aren’t first ones to travel with a baby.

> It is not about your friends having to go or being able to go back to work at 12 weeks. If Meghan is keen to return to regular royal duties at 12 weeks, I do not believe anybody would stop her. There will be plenty of places in the UK that could do with royal patronage and attention, and I am sure she would do a very competent job.

>However, if she has not returned to full time duties and merely pops up on the tour, the optics certainly will not be great. It will be easy to interpret it as it is ok to be on leave for UK duties, but not for South Africa.

> As regards requests from the FCO, I am sure the FCO will be contend with the Duke carrying out those engagements. I don't believe they will be carrying out engagements of such a sensitive nature that the maternity leave of the duchess needs to be interrupted. That has certainly never happened for either the Queen nor for the previous Princess of Wales.

> Not that we know the specifics of the trip just yet and so this may be a bit premature, but I just can't see the point of dragging a 4-5 month old baby to SA, having Meghan do a few engagements with Harry, wait in SA whilst he does the rest of the tour to return to SA and then come back. Eager as she is, the question to ask is if all the costs and work involved in putting all of this together will be worth it from the point of view of the FCO? Perhaps it is better for the Duke to do the trip on his own.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I genuinely don’t understand why people are questioning Meghan and Henry bringing their son on tour with them. I’d actually question it if they didn’t bring Archie with them. They can, so why not?

The FCO has asked both Henry and Meghan to go and it’s clear this tour has been planned for a while with important elements for both of them.

The criticism is just unreal.

 

[BaiSoSo]

I genuinely don’t understand why people are questioning Meghan and Henry bringing their son on tour with them. I’d actually question it if they didn’t bring Archie with them. They can, so why not?

The FCO has asked both Henry and Meghan to go and it’s clear this tour has been planned for a while with important elements for both of them.

The criticism is just unreal.

Right.... I wouldn't leave my 4-5 month old behind without either parent if I was going to be away for more than a couple of hours.

 

[Hanim]

Right.... I wouldn't leave my 4-5 month old behind without either parent if I was going to be away for more than a couple of hours.

Amen to that, i cannot understand either. People will find anything to bring them down [emoji19]

 

[loonytick]

Let’s be honest, no matter what they choose, someone will declare that the optics are a disaster. Whatever royal or royal couple is most in the spotlight at any given time, there’s such a rush by all too many royal watchers to respond to the tiniest scrap of information with a declaration that the public will be mightily displeased, with strong hints that the monarchy itself could be threatened by such a PR SNAFU.

Truth is, we don’t yet know much of anything about what this trip’s schedule looks like, much less how it will come off to the broader public. I mean, it’s a given that some will be displeased and some elated no matter what, but we don’t have even half enough information to make educated guesses about what the broad public opinion will be. And that’s super normal! First comes the broad announcement, with details to be rolled out bit by bit, as always.

 

[Mbruno]

I agree with Muriel that, if Meghan feels she can go out of maternity leave in six months' time to tour South Africa, then she should also resume official royal duties in the UK by the same time. Otherwise she will attract negative criticism and the usual allegations that she is taking a taxpayer funded vacation (even if her presence on the tour is explicitly requested by the FCO).

 

[muriel]

Right.... I wouldn't leave my 4-5 month old behind without either parent if I was going to be away for more than a couple of hours.

I don't believe anybody is suggesting that the baby be left without the mother. I am only questioning why the maternity leave needs to be interrupted at M&A have to be taken to Africa when Harry could well do the tour himself.

 

[ACO]

When was it announced Meghan is just going on tour but continuing her maternity leave? Did they announce the tour itinerary? Someone please fill me in. Clearly I missed it.

I get the feeling even if Meghan started working next week people would find fault in that too. Oh wait... they have. I am still seeing comments on how evil she was for not attending the state dinner.

I think the parents know what is best for their own child.

*shrug*

 

[BaiSoSo]

I agree with Muriel that, if Meghan feels she can go out of maternity leave in six months' time to tour South Africa, then she should also resume official royal duties in the UK by the same time. Otherwise she will attract negative criticism and the usual allegations that she is taking a taxpayer funded vacation (even if her presence on the tour is explicitly requested by the FCO).

There is nothing that says that Meghan won't be doing engagements, only that she isn't traveling to the other countries and will stay in one. If the rumors (via Chris ship) are correct and the tour is in September, Meghan will only be 4-4.5 months postpartum not taking the full 6 months so maybe that was taken into consideration with her travel plans.

I don't believe anybody is suggesting that the baby be left without the mother. I am only questioning why the maternity leave needs to be interrupted at M&A have to be taken to Africa when Harry could well do the tour himself.

The Foreign & Commonwealth offices asked for Harry and Meghan and she agreed. Being that she is ending her maternity leave early and the knowledge that this will be her 3rd tour in 1.5 years of marriage/working royal shows me that she is serious about the role.