Why do the videos of the Sussexes’ faux royal tour to Columbia not have sound?

Normally royal walkabouts are a jolly affair involving handshaking, bouquet-giving and, above all, pleasantry-exchanging.

Since the late Queen first decided to meet crowds rather than wave from a passing car, they have become part of our nation’s fabric.

But Harry and Meghan do things differently. As their Colombia sojourn demonstrated, they prefer as little interaction with the public as possible. 

And it seems that on the rare occasions the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do meet ordinary folk, they aim to ensure their exchanges aren’t overheard.

So tightly controlled was their faux royal tour that video of these all-too-brief encounters was released to the media without sound.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visit Cartagena, Colombia on August 17

It might have been instructive, for instance, to hear what the couple said to pupils during a visit to a school in Bogota on the first day of their tour. Instead the video showed only their lips moving.

Next day there was more of the same when Harry played sit-down volleyball with Invictus Games athletes in the capital. How different to a near-identical event three months earlier in Nigeria when reporters were privy to the Duke’s every word. 

And it might have been nice to hear the couple celebrating African culture during their visit to Palenque de San Basilio, a village founded by former slaves four centuries ago.

The Sussexes’ silent movies didn’t exactly sit neatly with Meghan’s sermonising on self-expression during a forum on ‘Afro women and power’ for instance on the last day of the tour. 

No matter. Having stepped down from royal duties four years ago, perhaps they feel normal rules don’t apply.

The reasons for this lack of transparency are not immediately clear. While the Duke and Duchess are apt to wash their dirty linen in public – think the soul-baring Oprah Winfrey interview and Harry’s tell-all memoir – it is not as if they are in the habit of divulging state secrets to well-wishers.

Abundantly apparent on this tour, however, was a desire to ensure their engagements received as little outside scrutiny as possible. 

To that end, they selected a trusted magazine writer to accompany them and deliver unfailingly flattering accounts of their activities to the rest of the media, which, at best, got an occasional fleeting glimpse of the runaway royals.

The tour was organised by Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation and the Colombian vice president’s team. 

Francia Marquez is the first black female to hold that post and was called ‘my friend’ by Meghan during one of the few speeches accompanied by sound.

Information about the trip was posted daily on WhatsApp by the VP’s office. But several journalists whose coverage caused displeasure were unceremoniously removed from the group.

Others were reprimanded for daring to ask questions of a head teacher – even though they were freely answered – whose school the Sussexes visited in Cartagena.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan with Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez and her husband Yernei Pinillo in Bogota on August 15 

Colombia’s vice president, Francia Marquez, speaks onstage during a forum about digital responsibility at EAN University during a visit on August 15

What the couple, now back home in California, managed to achieve remains unclear. Critics called it a publicity stunt for both the Sussexes and Ms Marquez.

In a country where 42 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, questions are already being raised about the costs. 

‘The bill for security will be astronomical – a fact people will not easily forget,’ said an opposition politician.

Many locals had never heard of the couple until their arrival. While the Sussexes experienced local culture and discussed cyber-bullying and mental health online, other more pressing issues were ignored.

Colombia faces economic and social issues with high levels of crime – and the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel in much of the nation

Right-wing senator and 2026 presidential hopeful Maria Fernanda Cabal said the trip ‘brought absolutely no cultural exchange or anything of the sort.

‘It is part of the showmanship of a vice president who is disconnected from the reality of the country,’ she added.