Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell-packed Netflix docuseries inspired Colombia's vice president to invite them for an official visit to the country, it has been revealed.
Vice President Francia Marquez officially welcomed the couple on their four-day visit to the South American country on Thursday and will accompany them as they take in a range of cultural and philanthropic events in the cities of Bogotá, Cali and Cartagena.
Harry and Meghan's decision to accept Marquez's invitation has raised eyebrows in Britain as it takes the form of a quasi royal tour, though the couple no longer act in any official capacity on behalf of the monarchy or British government since stepping down from duties in 2020 and moving to the U.S.
Though the couple do not have any personal ties to the country, Marquez revealed the reason she had been motivated to bring Harry and Meghan to Colombia in a press meeting on Thursday. In this, she revealed that the couple's 2022 record-breaking and controversy-stirring six-part Netflix show played a key role.
"How did I get to know Meghan and Harry?," she said, per the Daily Telegraph.
"I first encountered them through the media, and I particularly watched the Netflix series about their lives and their story, which deeply moved me.
"It motivated me to say, 'This is a woman who deserves to visit our country and share her story', and undoubtedly, her visit will strengthen so many women around the world."
Although Marquez's focus appears to have been Meghan, rather than Harry, the prince will be heavily involved with the planned engagements, at least one of which will be centered around his work with the Invictus Games veterans event.
Colombia is so far the only South American nation to send a regular delegation to The Games, the next of which will take place in Canada in 2025.
Harry and Meghan have taken time to find their feet in the States since their split from the monarchy, and their private media projects and interviews have not always provided a boost to their popularity.
The Netflix show, self-titled Harry & Meghan, charted the course of the couple's relationship and their dramatic split from the monarchy. In the show, the couple discussed the racist press coverage and social media abuse faced by Meghan since her introduction into the royal family, and also the monarchy's colonial history, as well as the couple's issues with members of the royal family and household.
The show gained worldwide coverage and broke Netflix streaming records for a docuseries debut, however it also brought with it a wave of criticism which was compounded when Harry released his memoir in January 2023, going into more depth about a number of the controversial issues.
In January 2023, the couple's popularity plummeted in both Britain and America, with them slowly regaining ground in the months since then.
At the time of his memoir release, Harry said that he and Meghan would now focus on the future, and since then they have launched a number of core philanthropic ventures, the most recent being the Archewell Foundation Parent's Network.
This project focuses on children's safety in the digital age, in collaboration with parent's who have lost children as a result of online harm.
Meghan and Harry have taken social media awareness and safety as a key driving point of this project, with Meghan reflecting on her own social media harassment in a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning host, Jane Pauley.
On Thursday in Colombia, Harry and Meghan participated in a Summit on a Responsible Digital Future with the vice president at the Universidad EAN in Bogotá. In discussing the work of the Parent's Network and the dangers in the online space, Meghan emphasized the community aspect of supporting society's most vulnerable people.
"We should model how we want our kids to be raised and for the world in which we raise them," she said.
"It doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter who you are. Either you personally, or someone you know, is a victim to what's happening online. And that's something we can actively work on every day to remedy."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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