Might Harry and Meghan’s original Megxit plan actually have worked?

It may not have been an official “royal visit”, but anyone watching the coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visiting Nigeria, in aid of the Invictus Games and its charitable foundation, could have been forgiven for thinking that it was.

The pair have some celebrity and fame, and no one, leastways outside palace circles, seems all that fussed about whether the pair are classified as “working” or “non-working” royals: “Megmania” gripped this part of west Africa, in any case. Harry is a Prince, his wife is a duchess, his dad is the king and head of the Commonwealth, and no amount of alienation or briefing can alter that. In Lagos State, he was given a prince’s welcome.

The warm reception by officials, the formal events, including a fundraising banquet, larking about with the kids, selfies, Harry playing sit-down volleyball with the disabled ex-service personnel involved in the Invictus Games…well, it was as if Megxit had never happened.

It suggested, in fact, that the kind of “half-in, half-out” quasi-royal, independent arrangement suggested by the Sussexes to the Queen and her advisors back in 2020 is actually a practical proposition. It inevitably poses some intriguing questions about whether it was, in fact, a good idea after all.

Quite how well it works is a bit of a revelation. Rightly, given Harry’s lack of an official diplomatic role, he was not invited nor met by the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu. Harry and his wife were wise enough to steer clear of anything that might have been judged “political”, and did not purport to act as representatives of the United Kingdom.

The couple were asked to come to the country by the chief of defence staff, Christopher Musa, the country’s highest-ranking military official, and was received by the governor of Lagos State – senior figures, but not the rank that would be involved if the King and Queen or the Waleses has arrived on official business.

It seems to have been highly successful, not least because Meghan chose the moment to reveal that a DNA test had proven she is “43 per cent Nigerian”, and she claims it as “her country”. Admittedly she’d can’t do that for every country she visits, but it certainly endeared her to the Nigerian people.

A critic might argue that the trip was all about virtue-signalling, and was being used as a platform to re-launch Meghan as a “player” in such circles, but that’s really inevitable if you’re a celebrity, or a royal, for that matter, engaged on a mission for charity and to make yourself useful. Harry and Meghan’s undeniable popularity was also good for British “soft power” in the region, as well as the Commonwealth – and all, in this case, at zero cost to the British taxpayer.

The Nigerian assignment will have helped the Invictus Games survive, and might even have bestowed some tangential benefit on the Sussexes’ personal charity vehicle, the Archwell Foundation, which made a big loss ($17m) last year, before being supported by what seems to have been a few very wealthy benefactors.

Of course, to support themselves, the Sussexes still need to make a living through commercial activities, anything thing from making documentaries to making jam. Such is life in the fuzzy borderlands between global public service, philanthropy and show business that Harry and Meghan have chosen to occupy. It’s far from ideal from the point of view of the rest of Harry’s family, who must feel a little like they are in competition with the Sussexes, as well as feeling unable to trust them; but really, the “threat” to the prestige of the British monarchy is trivial.

Occasional moments of tension, such as the Westminster Abbey service to commemorate the Invictus Games, when King Charles and Harry were both present, can be managed. The Sussexes are doing their own thing and, thus far, they’re not doing anyone any harm. At a time when the royal family is so overstretched, you might even argue the Sussexes are, in their own self-determined way, being helpful – and there’s nothing wrong with that.