Meghan Markle Left Her Solo Fiji Outing Early Due to Security Risks
Meghan Markle managed to remain cool, calm, and collected in what might've otherwise escalated to a scary situation.
As reported by People, The Duchess of Sussex was on a solo outing during a stop of her royal tour in Suva, Fiji, on Wednesday afternoon. (Prince Harry was off exploring a nearby forest.) While visiting a market to meet with a group of local vendors to discuss the United Nations Women's project Markets for Change, Markle's security detail soon deemed the environment too unsafe for her presence and escorted her out after just six minutes. She was originally set to stay for about 20 minutes.
Her exit reportedly stemmed from crowd management issues, Kensington Palace confirmed to the Associated Press, as the market filled up with more people than the detail was prepared to handle. "It was hot, humid, and uncomfortably busy, and there were far larger crowds than expected," an aide explained to the Daily Mail. "Meghan 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 issue."
Prior to exploring the markets, the duchess spent the morning giving her first solo speech on the royal tour at the University of the South Pacific, where she praised Fiji's commitment to higher education and reminisced about her own college days at Northwestern University. “As a university graduate, I know the personal feeling of pride and excitement that comes with attending university,” she told the crowd. “From the moment you receive your acceptance letter to the exams you spend countless late nights studying for, the lifelong friendships you make with your fellow alumni to the moment that you receive your diploma, the journey of higher education is an incredible, impactful, and pivotal one. It was through scholarships, financial aid programs, and work-study where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition—that I was able to attend university. And without question, it was worth every effort."
While Markle and Prince Harry's royal tour still has a few more days ahead of itself, don't be too surprised if you don't see as much of Markle. The duchess has apparently cut down on some of her appearances for the remainder of the tour, owing to her pregnancy. Everyone needs some self-care, even the royals.
Related: Every Single Outfit Meghan Markle Has Worn on Her Royal Tour
