Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have kicked off the second day of their tour of Colombia by visiting a school in Bogota, where they chatted to students about emotional well-being in education amid a ring of steel of security
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had a ring of steel security thrown around them as they visited a school described as being in a ‘bandit country’ on the second day of their Colombian tour.
The couple visited La Giralda School in Bogota, where they met students to talk about supporting healthy lives, with a huge security presence in tow, including soldiers and armed police. Harry and Meghan’s cavalcade included at least 14 vehicles and the school’s perimeter had soldiers, police and suited private security stationed around it.
A local taxi driver described the school as being in “bandit country” and warned journalists who were in the area covering the visit to “be careful”. During their engagements yesterday, the Sussexes were also followed at all times by extremely visible security.
Harry and Meghan’s security in Colombia includes an officer armed with a Kevlar shield to stop any potential shooter taking aim at the couple. At each event the couple have attended the man – part of the local security detail – has been seen jumping out of a vehicle ahead of the couple holding the folding shield.
During the Duke and Duchess visit to La Giralda school on Friday morning the shield was clearly visible behind Harry as he planted a tree in the grounds and on footage released by the Colombian government.
The shield – known as a ballistic briefcase – is also being used to protect the country’s vice president Francia Marquez, who is hosting the visit and who has been the target of several assassination attempts. Last year her protection team found 7kg of explosive buried in a rural road leading to her home in the south western province of Cauca.
Just two months ago her father and six-year-old nephew escaped unharmed after gunmen shot up a car they were in, leaving in riddled with bullets. Security websites describe the ballistic briefcase as a discreet close protection and a rapid-deployment safety device.
It’s non-threatening appearance and easy carry feature makes it ideal for executives, close protection officers and VIP bodyguards. It can be unfolded rapidly with one hand to provide a sizeable line of defense for ballistic and fragmentation threats.
The ring of steel surrounding the party will raise eyebrows as Colombia has travel advisory warnings from the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office. The school the couple visited on Friday was in the Bogota district of Santa Fe which is seen as a particularly dangerous and violent suburb.
The area is Bogota’s red-light district, a deadly mix of prostitution, drugs and violence and best avoided at night, according to locals. It featured on Apple Tv series No Go Zones – The World’s Toughest Places – and was described as an area of “Colombian gangsters and pimps in charge and all manner of homeless people and addicts find their way to the wasteland of Bogota”.
Inside the school, which is known as one of the top learning instutions in the world, Harry and Meghan were greeted by headmaster Serafin OrdoìnÞez. The Duke and Duchess, along with the country’s Vice President Francis Marquez, took part in a brief tour of the school, which included participating in an art session, visiting a kindergarten class, and also joining in on planting trees on the school’s property. Meghan, who wore a Loro Piana linen blazer and butterfly earrings that once belonged to Princess Diana, helped a five-year-old pupil called Manuela plant a walnut tree.
The entire school prepared special moments for the Duke and Duchess’s arrival, including performances all throughout the school grounds where students wore traditional Colombian dress and performed songs along with live percussion to celebrate the occasion.
Pupils also presented presents for Harry and Meghan’s children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, including Colombian style ponchos, as well as personal letters and drawings.The couple’s first port of call inside the school was to look at the school’s historical memory museum where students share art they’ve created commemorating those killed in past Colombian conflicts, including some of their own relatives.
The students described the room as a space meant for creation and collaboration and their artwork is made to honour the resilience of the Colombian people. For a visit to a kindergarten class, the Duke and Duchess spent time with students, and worked on puzzles, while they conversed with the class. Meghan also exercised her Spanish skills for the visit.
“You’re the same age as my son Archie!” She said to a student in Spanish. Harry also practiced his Spanish, asking students their names and age. The kindergarteners also performed a song for the Duke and Duchess before presenting them with gifts and handwritten letters.
Following the kindergarten visit, the Duke and Duchess and the VP went to the school’s garden. The garden has existed since 2020 and was created for students to not only learn to appreciate the Earth but also the farmers of Colombia who provide food for the country.
The Duke and Duchess also visited the school’s social and emotional gym, where Harry got down on his knees and donned boxing gloves before carrying out punches on a punch bag. The exercises were part of a programme which highlights mental and physical exercises for students to learn how better balance their mental health and personal wellbeing. The students also demonstrated for the Duke, Duchess, and VP their own personal meditation techniques and how they balance their emotions, good and bad.
School CEO Diana Basto told the Mirror: “It was so special for us to have Harry and Meghan come and visit us and the staff and children were all very excited. It was a lovely experience to have them here. ‘They visited various parts of the school including the memorial museum section where they learned about people who have been killed in previous conflicts in Colombia’s history.
“It was emotional for them and from there to the kindergarten and then finally onto the garden where they helped plant two trees. There was music and dancing as they went around the school and they joined in with the dancing. Then Harry had a go at the punching bag in the gym. Harry and Meghan were super excited when they were given the presents and because the children in the kindergarten are the same age as Archie.”
The Sussexes squeezed plenty out of their first day of the tour, which kickstarted yesterday with a warm welcome to the capital city of Bogota by Vice President Francia Márquez and her husband Rafael Yerney Pinillo. After landing in Colombia, the Duke and Duchess were greeted by VP Márquez and Mr Pinillo who they joined for for a breakfast meeting complete with coffee, tea, and traditional pan de bono (Colombian Cheese Bread) at their official residence.
Harry and Meghan then spent some time at a local school, Colegio Cultura Popular, where they spoke with children about topics concerning online safety and cyberbullying, and listened to stories of pupils who’d been affected. Here they received a tour and informational session by headteacher Leonel Umaña Parra, and José David, a student at the school.
Then, it was on to the Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata Olivella, described by CNA director Xiomara Suescúnthe ‘beating heart of the art of Colombia’. Here, Harry and Meghan enjoyed theatre and musical performances, even dancing along happily as they entered into the spirit of things. They wrapped up their first day with a panel produced in collaboration with the VP’s office and international organisation Luminate, with the aim of promoting the importance of creating a safer online environment for the next generation.
During the presentation, Meghan urged: “We should model how we want our kids to be raised and for the world in which we raise them. 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.”