Why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in Morocco

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are doing their bit for girl power after jetting into Morocco this weekend for a three-day tour - their last international trip before the birth of their first child.

The couple were “warmly welcomed into Morocco on Saturday evening” by a guard of honour and an enthusiastic crowd, who had waited for two hours after the royals’ flight into Casablanca Airport was delayed, reports the Daily Express.

Meghan Markle, whose baby is due in late April or early May, had spent the previous week in New York, where high-profile friends threw her a baby shower.

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The Morocco trip is intended to boost ties between the UK and the North African nation, with a focus on women’s empowerment, girl’s education, inclusivity and the encouragement of social entrepreneurship, says Hello! magazine.

Prince Harry and his wife are being hosted by King Mohammed VI in a royal palace, and were “offered dates and milk with orange blossom upon their arrival; a tradition often witnessed at Moroccan weddings”, adds CNN.

On Sunday morning, the couple visited a boarding house in the town of Ansi, where Meghan got a temporary henna tattoo of three flowers on her left hand. In the afternoon, they attended a cooking demonstration in the capital Rabat, where children from under-privileged backgrounds learned traditional Moroccan recipes from a top chef.

This morning, the pair paid a visit to Rabat’s Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports, to learn about Morocco’s “developing programme of supporting children with special needs through equine therapy”, the London Evening Standard reports.

The Duke and Duchess are also attending a horse grooming session with some of the children, before watching a riding demonstration.