The next destination on Meghan and Harry’s spoof-royal tour of the UK and Europe is Germany, where authorities will restrict intersections and build up miles of roadblocks to prevent them and their entourage from getting caught in traffic.
The pair is flying to Dusseldorf to attend the opening of the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, the paralympic-style competition for military members that the prince established. They are currently staying at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate.
Officials from the city maintain that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit is private and that they will be escorted by their own security team at their own expense.
However, German police will also be present, mainly to manage the crowds in the market square where Harry, 37, and Meghan, 41, will start their visit at 12.30 p.m.
According to a police source, temporary checkpoints will be put in place along the three-mile route from Dusseldorf Airport to the city centre to prevent the convoy of cars carrying Harry and Meghan from being caught in traffic.
Due to the nature of the visit, neither police motorcycle outriders nor the pursuing police vehicles will activate their flashing blue lights.
But according to the source, the convoy would include a truck carrying a doctor and medical supplies for the three-mile trip into the city.
Prior to selection later this year, they will meet with authorities, future opponents, as well as players’ friends and families.
Their visit will also feature an hour-long beautiful trip down the Rhine on a “party boat,” which is often crammed with visitors.
The pair will attend the WellChild Awards, which honour young people from all around the UK for their courage in overcoming a catastrophic illness or handicap, on Thursday.
Even though the Sussexes are visiting Germany for the first time as ordinary individuals, they are being treated like royalty. When the pair shows up for a reception and book signing at the town hall in Dusseldorf today, they will be welcomed with the same warmth shown to visiting heads of state.
Red and white flowers, the city’s official colours, were scattered around the town hall’s door as a last-minute preparation.
The pair will take a one-hour picturesque trip down the Rhine on a “party boat,” which is often crowded with visitors, as part of their visit to Germany on Tuesday to begin the countdown to the Invictus Games, which will be hosted in Dusseldorf in September.
They will travel along the Rhine to Duisburg during the afternoon excursion on the £13 million MS Rhein Galaxie, which will conclude at the Merkur-Spiel sports complex, the site of the athletic competition for disabled veterans.
Although this is a private visit, a source from the city of Düsseldorf told Mail Online: “We do not want anything to go wrong or there to be any incident.” The city is being shown.
Despite the fact that they will have their own security teams, the police will be engaged and briefed.
As the Invictus Games’ hosts, we want everything to go as smoothly as possible.
Although there have been several meetings and arrangements have altered, we are certain the visit will go well.
On a red carpet, Harry and Meghan will exit their vehicle and go across the market square to the door of the town hall, which was built in the sixteenth century.
They will be joined by Stephan Keller, the mayor of the city, after ascending a spiral staircase festooned with red and white flowers.
The couple will sign the “Golden Book” following speeches from Harry and the Mayor.
All dignitaries who came to Dusseldorf, the capital of the Rhine-Westphalia area, signed the large leather-bound book.
The couple’s page has already been made, and it contains their names written in crimson Roman cursive.
The titles “Prinz Harry Herzog von Sussex” and “Meghan, Herzogin von Sussex” are used to refer to Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, respectively.
Harry is regarded as the patron of the Invictus Games.
Although there is a balcony in the book signing overlooking the market square the couple will not be stepping out to wave to crowds gathered below.
‘That would not be proper,’ remarked a municipal official.
A fleet of automobiles will carry the couple to a pier about two miles away where they will join the Rhein Galaxie for the hour-long journey down the Rhine.
They will have lunch on board and with nice weather anticipated expected to remain on the open top deck rather than sit downstairs on one of the three decks.
The 85-meter-long ship, which is the most up-to-date in the fleet of sightseeing tour providers KD, was launched in 2020 but didn’t enter operation until five months later owing to the epidemic.
It is utilised for conferences, trade shows, and celebrations and can accommodate up to 1,000 persons.
The ship includes “floor-to-ceiling windows, a stage set up on the side, and a vast atrium that links three decks through an aesthetically built “feature wall” with big screens,” the business promises.
The outside deck has an imposing “Skywalk” above the bar, a VIP viewing area, an 85 square metre dance floor, and VIP observation platforms.
On the open top deck, tables and flowers were being set up as last-minute preparations for the journey were made.
Harry and Meghan will be dropped off to the sporting venue, where they will be presented to competitors in the 2023 Invictus Games, by the river cruise ship.
Harry will attend a news conference held by the German military, one of the games’ co-organizers, but he has made it clear he won’t accept any questions from the media.
The meeting will finish at 5 p.m. UK time, at which point the pair will be taken back to the airport to catch their aircraft back to London.
At the One Young World conference in Manchester last night, Meghan Markle was accused of giving a speech that was all about “me, me, me,” as she made at least 54 references to herself during a seven-minute address to young people that was supposed to be about gender equality.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, inaugurated the event at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester as her beaming husband Harry looked on. However, the pair had to navigate a boo-filled entrance to the first public engagement of their faux-royal tour.
The audience greeted Meghan and her husband warmly as they entered the stage for her keynote address at the One Young World Summit for young leaders from all across the world.
Meghan told one tale about women throughout the address to around 2,000 people, despite the fact that it was advertised as a lecture on gender equality. Instead, she raved over Archie’s mother, Prince Harry, and the “life-changing” effect of returning to the UK. She also said it was “really good” to be there.
She expressed her delight in being a “mom” at one point and became emotional when the crowd cheered. She continued by saying that her life had “changed substantially,” maybe in reference to Archie, the Royal Family, or Megxit.
Mostly young individuals made up the crowd, and Meghan described how she initially became engaged with the group in 2014: They were told to “seize the moment” and not let self-doubt paralyse them, saying, “In many respects I was probably a lot like you, I was young, ambitious.”
She referred to herself as “the girl from Suits,” who was finally “asked to draw up a seat at the table” with prominent presidents, prime ministers, humanitarians, and campaigners, and she questioned how she had achieved success.
She mentioned experiencing a “pinch me moment” when she was initially invited to be a counsellor.
She remarked, “I was so overwhelmed by this event, I remember I even preserved my little paper place-marker with my name on it, because the reality was, I wasn’t sure that I belonged.” She continued, “It was just evidence: proof that I was there, proof that I belonged.”
Meghan’s speech, according to Majesty Magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward, “was just’me, me, me’ and applauding herself.”
A cordial welcome had been extended to Meghan and Harry. However, a large portion of a 100-person audience booed the couple from behind a barrier only yards away moments earlier as they exited their vehicle.
Witnesses said that the booing was so loud that “there was no question they would have heard.” A poster that said, “FO Harry and Me-Gain Fake Royals,” was carried by one demonstrator.
A lady from Manchester who went under the name of Janet accused Meghan of attacking the Royal Family and being a “liar and hypocrite.”
She said, “She’s a faux feminist and a fake humanitarian.” She’s a social climber who believed she could become famous inside the Royal Family and is the most destructive, divisive person I’ve ever heard of in my life, according to one person.
A body language expert revealed on Twitter that throughout the seven-minute speech, Meghan made 54 references to herself.
Meghan just shared one short tale about another woman despite being chosen to speak on gender equality. The Duchess of Sussex recalled working with a young Eritrean lady her first year at One Young World in Dublin.
She had fled her own country while being shot at from above. I can still clearly recall it, she replied.
“I remember my amazement, but I also remember her bravery, and I remember realising how much still happens every day while so many people choose to ignore it.” Despite all the obstacles, she persisted, just like so many others.
Meghan was criticised by royal authorities for giving a speech that “lacked substance” and was filled with illogical and false remarks following the speech.
Majesty Magazine’s Ingrid Seward told The Sun, “I can’t imagine or understand how the 2,000 young people comprehended a word of what she was talking about.”
It was illogical. Everything was centred on her and linked to her.
“I doubt she understood what she was talking about,” I said. Only “me, me, me” and self-aggrandisement were present.