Prince Harry and Meghan's new PR team is making big moves, says royal expert
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's trip to Nigeria was a success - and one royal expert believes he knows how they did it.
Prince Harry inspects troops on his visit to Nigeria
Prince Harry and Meghan's three-day visit to Nigeria was hailed a success story - and one royal expert thinks he's figured out how they pulled it off.
Gareth Russell, historian and author, told GB News it's no coincidence that the Sussexes hired two PR professionals before going on their quasi-royal tour.
Russell is pleased with how the visit went and that the Sussexes turned to their PR team for advice.
The royal expert said: "I don't think it's a coincidence that it comes so soon after their well-publicised hiring of two excellent PR executives.”
He added: "This is the kind of thing they should be doing."
READ MORE: Palace should ‘remove Harry and Meghan from website completely’ says expert
According to Newsweek, the Sussexes have onboarded Charlie Gipson, a former associate client director at Edelman, and Kyle Boulia, an ex-corporate communications manager at United Talent Agency.
The new hires report into Ashley Hansen, the Sussexes' global press secretary.
Russell feels like the business trip, which doubled as a royal tour, was a "positive" for the Sussexes, but admitted there will be criticism.
He said: "It has, however, divided attention like many royal tours or in this case, tours with royalty in them, do over the years.”
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Harry and Meghan spent three days in Nigeria as private citizens, but one concern is that the general public may not be able to make the distinction between a member of the Royal Family and a working member, which couuld send mixed messages.
The second concern is that Harry and Meghan may be opening themselves up to being taken advantage of, they could be manipulated by a foreign government, because they don’t have the aid of the embassy, which is typical of an official royal tour.
"It's entirely within the rights of the government of any country to invite whichever public figures they want to and to offer them a tour," said Mr Russell.
The Royal Family cannot stop Harry and Meghan from making such visits, but they can ask the foreign nation to refrain from extending the invitation.
