The Full Roster of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Tour Entourage
Later this month, the spotlight will again be on Harry, Meghan and Archie as they carry out their first official tour as a family to Africa. As the Sussexes greet dignitaries and highlight the work of different organizations, images of the royal couple will be beamed around the world. But royal tours are very much a team effort. They require months of planning and the work of multiple staffers to pull off successfully.
Meghan and Harry will be taking an entourage of 13 on their trip with them, and they have also paid privately for their incoming private secretary Fiona Mcilwham to join them for three days as she prepares to begin her new role. The former British Ambassador to Albania, Mcilwham describes herself as a “wannabe supermum” on her Twitter account and outlines that she is currently at the RCDS (Royal College of Defence Studies).
Leading the team on the trip to Africa will be outgoing private secretary Samantha Cohen alongside assistant private secretary Heather Wong. The role of the private secretaries is to organize the royals’ working program and act as a lead advisor and strategist in all aspects of their work life. These senior aides also accompany the royals on their engagements where they can sometimes be spotted collecting gifts from well-wishers.
Cohen was assigned to Harry and Meghan as a temporary private secretary following a stint as the Queen’s assistant private secretary. She started working for the royals in 2001 in the press office and is highly regarded among her colleagues. Wong started working for Harry before he married Meghan and is now seen accompanying them both.
Press secretary Sara Latham will be joined on the tour by two other press officers and one social media officer. The press team have always played a key part in managing royal tours which attract significant media interest. In recent years as the palace’s social media operation has grown, they have also started to send staff on tours to document the trip for their own channels.
Project coordinator Clara Madden will be traveling with the royals along with another program coordinator, a logistics coordinator, a personal assistant, and a director of royal travel. Whenever the royals go overseas on official business, the way they travel is determined and organized by the royal travel office. A representative from this department did not go on Harry and Meghan’s previous tours but it is understood that the logistics of this visit require it.
The final two people in the entourage are a nanny for Archie who will look after the royal baby when both parents are carrying out engagements in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and Meghan’s hairdresser, who is being paid for privately. When the duchess went to Australia and New Zealand she traveled with stylist George Northwood who also did her hair for her evening wedding reception last May.
The group will all travel commercially to and from South Africa; however, when Harry visits Botswana, Angola and Malawi with some of the staff, they will travel on a charter plane. Buckingham Palace has not disclosed where the royals are staying but confirmed that they are going to be in accommodation that has been organized by the British Foreign Office.
Meghan and Archie will make two stops, one in Cape Town and one in Johannesburg. There are currently no firm plans regarding when Archie may appear in public but a source said they “hope to include” him at some point in the program but it was “difficult to schedule” because he will only be five months old.
The program for the tour will highlight causes close to the royal couple's hearts, including furthering the legacy of Princess Diana’s work on landmines, conservation projects, and, for Meghan, women’s empowerment. A spokeswoman also said it will demonstrate “a modern U.K.-Africa partnership in action.”
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