Meghan Markle was forced to cut short a planned solo engagement in Fiji yesterday, part of her debut royal tour of Oceania with husband Prince Harry, due to practical concerns over security, Kensington Palace has confirmed.
The Duchess of Sussex, who is currently expecting her first child, was scheduled to pay a visit to a local marketplace in Suva, the Fijian capital, to learn more about a UN Women’s initiative called ‘Markets for Change,’ a project which promotes female empowerment by helping women sell their work in marketplaces throughout the South Pacific.
However, the planned 20 minute trip was quickly curtailed down to six when palace aides became concerned about the large crowd that had gathered to greet the Duchess in the confined marketspace.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson officially confirmed to the Associated Press that crowd management issues were to blame.
Meghan’s bodyguard reportedly rushed her out of the engagement.
“It was hot, humid and uncomfortably busy and there were far larger crowds than expected,” a royal aide told the Daily Mail.
“She met everyone she was meant to meet and left. There would have been a lot of people who would have been keen to meet her but she did meet those who had hoped to.
“On advice she was taken out due to crowd management issues.”
Crowds were very disappointed not to meet the Duchess.
The decision was inevitably met with disappointment by many of those who had gathered to see the Duchess.
“It was such a shame as we were all very excited to meet her,” one stallholder told the Daily Mail.
“We started preparing for the visit three weeks ago.”
Via our sister site Grazia.
