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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been practicing their Spanish as they chatted with schoolchildren during their four-day tour of Colombia.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent the second day of their visit to the country at the La Giralda school and a sports centre, meeting with locals and officials in what is being dubbed a ‘DIY royal tour’.
The couple’s arrival at the school was celebrated with performances from pupils who wore traditional Colombian dress, with Harry seen bopping along to the music before they interacted with the youngsters.
While visiting a nursery class, Meghan told a student in Spanish: ‘You’re the same age as my son Archie.’ The Duke also practiced his Spanish, asking students their names and ages.
The couple were accompanied by the country’s vice president Francia Marquez, and later in the day were taken to meet with war veterans at a rehabilitation centre in the capital Bogotá.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are seen at a Training Session with Invictus Games Team Colombia
Harry and Meghan each changed clothes between their morning and afternoon engagements
The Duchess of Sussex is seen holding the hand of one veteran as he presents his artwork
The couple snapped selfies with fans at the sports and rehabilitation centre
Meghan kneels down as she speaks to a young girl in the school’s kindergarten this morning
Harry got stuck in with a sitting volleyball match
The couple smile as they pose for a photo with students wearing traditional Colombian clothing
There, Harry got stuck in with a sitting volleyball match alongside athletes who were training for the Invictus Games – an international sports contest for injured armed forces personnel which was founded by the Duke and will take place next year.
The couple were welcomed to the Centro de Rehabilitacion Inclusiva by military officials before touring the centre’s swimming pool, rock climbing wall gym and rehabilitation facilities, chatting with the athletes about their exercise programmes.
‘It’s amazing to see how many people can come together to form one team,’ Harry said to an Invictus team member while touring the centre’s cardiovascular room, Meghan saying the athletes were ‘all so incredible to watch.’
The pair posed alongside athletes for photos, with one delighted sportsman giving a thumbs up as he trained on a rowing machine.
Vice President Marquez remained with the couple during the tour and photo opportunities, and her partner Rafael Yerney Pinillo joined Harry in taking part in the volleyball match.
After the game, Harry spoke to a group of Korean War veterans and the couple toured the centre’s art hall which featured artwork created by Invictus athletes.
Meghan was presented with a painting, hand-knitted animals and also a beaded necklace with matching earrings from some of the artists, and was seen embracing and was seen smiling as she graciously held hands with one veteran.
Meanwhile the duke appeared touched as he was awarded a commemorative plaque from the Ministry of National Defence Veterans.
Harry and Meghan are seen posing with officials and war veterans at the Centro de Rehabilitacion Inclusiva
A wheelchair athlete shakes hands with Prince Harry, who is the founder of the Invictus Games
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Vice President of Colombia Francia Marquez are seen at a Training Session with Invictus Games Team
The Duke showed off his sporting abilities as he played a match of sitting volleyball with Invictus athletes
The couple were invited to Colombia by Ms Marquez, who they shared a private lunch with yesterday in between their visits.
Harry and Meghan each changed clothes between their morning and afternoon engagements, with the Duchess changing out of her blazer, trousers and white shirt into a different crisp white button down, which she paired with a long skirt, for the afternoon’s event.
She also swapped the pumps she had been wearing earlier in the day for a pair of strappy sandals.
Meanwhile Harry, keen to get stuck in with the sitting volleyball match, traded his smart blue shirt for a dark polo.
Earlier in the day at the school in Santa Fe, which was nominated for being one of the top ten in the world, not for its education record but rather its promotion of a healthy living and lifestyle for students and teachers.
Meghan chats with a group of athletes at the rehabilitation centre in Bogota
The couple are seen applauding next to officials at the rehabilitation centre
The couple were accompanied by the country’s vice president Francia Marquez
There, the couple took part in an art session and planted trees, and also visited the school’s ‘social and emotional gym’ which teaches students mental and physical exercises to balance their mental health and personal wellbeing.
The students demonstrated for the couple their personal meditation techniques.
The children presented them with gifts and handwritten letters, and the couple posed for photos alongside the youngsters as they wore traditional dress.
The couple have a full security detail during their visit, and in footage of their time at the school, a security officer can be seen protecting them with a bulletproof shield.
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.
Ensuring the couple’s security is a high priority during their stay. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high.
Meghan smiles as she speaks to a little girl in the school’s garden, where she and Harry helped them plant trees
Harry and Meghan hold hands as they walk into Colegio La Giralda in Bogota, Colombia, this morning
A soldier walking an armed forces dog stands alongside other servicemen outside La Giralda school before the visit
It also describes the country as ‘seriously afflicted by conflict’ with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war.
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.’
A security guard is seen holding aloft the bulletproof shield as Harry and Meghan help children plant trees in the garden of a school today
The shield was also visible as they posed for photos with students at La Giralda school in the Santa Fe district of Bogota
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were escorted to a school in the Santa Fe area of Bogota amid tight security with at least 16 armoured police vehicles, as well as armed officers and soldiers, seen on patrol before their arrival.
Roads were blocked off as the couple’s convoy swept into the area, which is described as a no-go zone in the Colombian capital.
The visit to the school, which is overlooked by rundown apartment blocks and several rundown favelas which cling to the nearby hillsides, comes despite Harry’s raising concerns over his security arrangements when visiting the UK.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits, when travel costs would have usually been met by the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant.
The Sussexes’ team has not confirmed how the trip is being funded, whether privately, through Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, by the Colombian government or other means.
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