Meghan’s marvellous in monochrome on third day of Colombian tour

Meghan Markle was flawless in monochrome as she and Prince Harry carried out the third day of their faux-royal tour of Colombia on Saturday.

While the Duke of Sussex, 39, wore blue linen and beige chinos to attend all of the couple’s engagements on Saturday, Meghan switched up her outfit between engagements, choosing a frilled black two-piece to attend a bongo drum class, before slipping into a chic all-white outfit for a visit to an historic village.

For her first look, Meghan chose one of her favourite designers, Johanna Ortiz, who is from Colombia, pairing the Deep Ocean silk crop top with the Hello Sailor silk maxi skirt. The two pieces together cost approximately £1,700.

As she visited the historic Afro-Caribbean village of San Basilio de Palenque, which was founded 300 years ago by freed slaves, she chose a chose a chic white linen skirt from Posse, the Emma design, costing approximately £200. She paired the wardrobe staple with a white crew neck tank top from Argent, costing £120.

For mother-of-two Meghan, who has previously been known to favour exclusive and pricey designers, this look favoured more modestly-priced key pieces – but it was her drip that upped the price tag of the outfit.

Keeping her favoured and most treasured jewellery pieces close, Meghan chose her Cartier Gold Tank Francaise Watch, which once belonged to Princess Diana and is valued at £17,800. She paired it with her Cartier Justr Un Clou Necklace in Yellow Gold with Diamonds, costing £15,500, and added a final Cartier touch, the Love Yellow Gold Bracelet, which costs £5,800.

Elsewhere, the Duchess added sweet nods to her children, Archie and Lili, by donning her Ariel Gordon Imperial Disc Pendant necklace engraved with the children’s names, costing £1,425.

As the couple kicked off the third day of their tour of the South American nation, they were greeted once again by Colombia’s vice president Francia Marquez as they visited a school and took part in a bongo drum workshop.

For their second meeting of the day, they visited the village of San Basilio de Palenque, which has a fascinating history after being founded by freed African slaves almost 300 years ago. It is now described as a ‘little corner of Africa’ in the nation.

The stop was particularly significant for Meghan, as when she visited Nigeria in May she said she was ’43 per cent Nigerian’.

Today the quasi royal tour will end with a trip to the city of Cali where the couple will attend a music festival and meet local youngsters.

Meghan’s speech in Cali will touch on the theme of ‘Afro Women and Power’ and is due to be held at the city’s main theatre.

At the village of San Basilio de Palenque, local rapper Andris Padilla Julio, 32, performed for the Duke and Duchess after they toured the area. 

Known by the rap name Afroneto, Padilla is the creator of a style known RFP or Folkloric Palanquero Rap.

He said: ‘I spoke with Harry and his wife and Francia Marquez about our plan to build an arts performance centre here.

‘I gave them a document with what we want to do and now all they need to do is put in the money that we need.

‘They said they would help. Harry complemented me on my RFP flow and my outfit.’

Josefa Hernandez, 38, a contractor for Colombia’s Ministry of Culture who served as master of ceremonies for the visit, said: ‘This visit has been very symbolic for us.

‘The Duke and Duchess broke their protocol to thank us for opening the doors of our community to them.

‘They told us that they understood the importance of San Basilio de Palenque for the history of Colombia and the world.

‘First they visited San Basilio de Palenque’s cultural centre where Franca Marquez spoke and the national anthem of Columbia and the anthem of Palenque were played.

‘A local wise woman performed a ritual predicting prosperity for the Duke, the Duchess and the Vice President.

‘Then they were given a tour by a local historian explained the story of how the town was created.’

Colombia has the third largest population of African descent after Nigeria and Brazil and the trio host vice president Francia Marquez is the first black woman to hold the position. Speaking in 2014 to Amnesty Ms Marquez said Colombia’s Afro women ‘must keep going’, despite the risks they face.

She believed women have a key role to play because their ‘caring instinct’ drives them to protect not only their children, but also their territory, the environment and their communities.

‘We need to feminise politics and fill humanity with maternal love. ‘War has always been driven by machismo, by the patriarchy and by business between men. I think these men need to stop being so aggressive in life and think about feminizing themselves.’

A spokesperson for the vice president’s office said: ‘The event was a special meeting to reconnect with African roots; to learn about the experiences and living conditions of black, Afro-descendant, Raizal and Palanquero peoples in the region and to strengthen human and cultural development programs that promote the guarantee of cultural and collective rights in this territory.’

Speaking at the village Meghan said: ‘We understand very well the importance and meaning of what this town is, it has become very clear to us. We understand what Palenque represents for Colombia and for the world, we thank you for sharing with us everything you showed to us.’

Prince Harry told the crowd: ‘It feels like we have already seen the whole country.’

He added: ‘What we are seeing here is everything that is a community, do not forget the message of the Vice President, they are stronger together, they are stronger united as one.’