Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Colombia tour deemed 'wasteful spending' by senator after expense report
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A five-figure sum was spent on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi-royal Colombia tour last month making a section of the Latin American team’s government call out the expenditure.
According to the official reports from the Colombian Vice President, the official who primarily took the initiative to invite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Colombia, the four-day tour cost the nation nearly £45,000 ($58,000), per Daily Mail.
Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez’s office recently revealed that the nation spent a total of Col$244,245,305 (£44,725.14 or $58,654) on Harry and Meghan’s quasi-royal trip.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid for their airfare and general expenses
The official numbers were released after the VP’s political opponent, Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal requested the financial records.
Cabal has previously termed the Sussexes’ Colombia tour between August 15 and 18 as “showmanship” and “wasteful spending.”
Nevertheless, the VP’s office clarified that the Sussexes, who stepped down from royal duties in 2020, bore the costs of their flights and accommodation in Bogota as well as general expenditures.
It was also revealed the nation did not pay any fee to Harry and Meghan for their visit. The cost predominantly included the money spent on security from the period of August 12 to 19, including advance visits from security and logistics staff.
The official report cited that the government spent £7,500 ($9,833) on security for the programs held in San Basilio de Palenque.
They further revealed that another £4,500 ($5,899) was for security in Cali where the Sussexes basked in live entertainment from a youth organization.
While the other costs were borne by the visiting royals, the VP’s office primarily took care of the security, with the Foreign Offices of both the US and UK issuing travel advisories to the country in the middle of Colombia’s alarmingly growing crime rates.
Marquez, the country’s first Black vice-president, is a lawyer and human rights activist and leads the government alongside President Gustavo Petro.
She reportedly invited the Sussexes to Colombia after getting inspired by their Netflix documentary.
During their Colombia trip, Harry and Meghan took part in various activities aimed at spreading awareness on cyber-bullying, and digital violence along with giving a boost to Invictus Games.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed over Colombia tour's expenditure
The Internet was not left impressed with the monetary sum as they too criticized the royals for their quasi-royal tour.
One of the readers commented online, "The H and M World Privacy Tour will continue unabated, regardless of cost to the hosts."
"I don’t understand how they get these trips. She is literally a nobody in the United States. I have no idea why she is being received around the world as an important person in diplomacy," observed another fan.
Someone else added, "They represent no country, hold no position or platform so I don’t understand what these 3rd world country “tours” are expected to accomplish except wasting a lot of money that should be helping said countries impoverished citizens."
"The locals were furious that this trip cost so much, caused chaos and totally inconvenienced them. Colombia benefited not a whit from this ego trip," vehemently criticized another user.
Someone else noted, "And I am sure they didn’t do it for free, meaning that they probably got paid over and above all of their expenses being covered."
"Why have they visited these two countries? They have no official status for either the US or the UK. They should be paying for everything from their own money," said another user.
Someone else queried, "What was the point of that trip besides feeding their egos and costing a poor country money they can't afford? Maybe they should reimburse Colombia for the intrusion."
"Sorry, what was the point of their going? They don't represent any country. They don't represent a business entity. I'm at a loss as to why Columbia asked them in the first place," declared another social media user.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
