Prince Harry tells students in Nigeria alongside Meghan Markle: ‘There’s no shame in having a bad day’

Prince Harry spoke movingly about mental health while visiting a school in Nigeria on Friday – telling students that there is “no shame” in having a bad day.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, opened up about the bereavements he has suffered in his life, telling the young people that it is okay to acknowledge difficult feelings.

“There is no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day,” he said.

“If you woke up this morning feeling sad, if you left school feeling stressed, if you’ve lost a loved one in your family who you usually turn to or speak to, all of these things you may be led to believe are not for conversation.

“We are here today to tell you that is not the case.”

The prince made the revelation while visiting Wuse Lightway Academy in the Nigerian capital of Abuja alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, 42.

They were invited to visit to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games and chose to make the school their first port of call because it is helped by their Archewell Foundation.

Harry founded the games in 2014 and the unique competition is made up of wounded, sick or injured service people.

The event is also being marked later today and the couple are set to meet with service people this afternoon.

Nigerian defence spokesperson Brigadier General Tukur Gusau believes the visit from the couple will help boost morale.

“This engagement with Invictus is giving us the opportunity for the recovery of our soldiers,” he said.

The trip, which is set to last three days, is Harry and Meghan’s first visit to Nigeria as a couple and their first international tour since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020.

It follows a brief visit to the UK, where Harry also marked the anniversary of the games, but he did so alone as Meghan chose to skip that part of the trip.

The trip was reported to be a challenging one for the Harry, who suffered two alleged snubs from his family while in the UK.

The first came in the form of King Charles’s decision not to meet with his youngest son, who he last saw for around 45 minutes in February following his cancer diagnosis.

Harry’s spokesperson announced in a statement that the King had claimed he was too busy to meet Harry while he was in the country, having just returned to work last week.

The second snub came in the form of the announcement that Prince William is soon to be made colonel-in-chief of Prince Harry’s old regiment, the Army Air Corps.

Harry was, however, supported at a thanksgiving service for the games by members of Princess Diana’s family.

This included her siblings Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Spencer, and former army officer Mark Dyer, who turned up to celebrate the prince’s achievement.