The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are heading out on a working trip to Colombia this week, and while it’s a significant moment for Prince Harry and Meghan, they’re not the first royals to visit the South American country.
Harry and Meghan, who stepped back as senior working royals in 2020, have been invited to Colombia at the invitation of the country’s vice president Francia Marquez.
Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, said the pair would join her in visiting the capital Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali.
Details of the couple’s itinerary have not yet been released, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces.
The last British royal to visit Colombia was Harry’s aunt, the Duchess of Edinburgh, in November 2023, but King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and some of the European royals have also taken official trips.
Take a look back in the gallery below…
© GettyKing Charles and Queen Camilla
The then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall carried out a nine-day visit to Colombia and Mexico in October 2014.
The tour was organised to provide a “boost” to the bilateral relationships between the UK and the two Latin American countries.
During their tour, Charles and Camilla visited the capital Bogota, as well as Macarena National Park and Cartagena.
Charles also previously visited Colombia in 1974 when he was a naval officer on HMS Minerva.
© ShutterstockThe Duchess of Edinburgh
The Duchess of Edinburgh, pictured with former Colombia First Lady, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez Munera, in London in 2016, visited Colombia in November 2023 to shine a light on women impacted by war.
Sophie whose trip came at the request of the UK Government, travelled to Bogota to champion the survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
© GettyThe Princess Royal
Princess Anne carried out official visits to Colombia in 1973, with her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and in 1997, when she toured aid projects and met the inventor of a malaria vaccine, Manuel Elquin Patarroyo. She’s pictured here with then Colombian President Ernesto Samper.
© GettyPrince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh
The late Duke of Edinburgh was the first member of the current British royal family to visit Colombia in 1962.
© GettyQueen Letizia
The Spanish Queen undertook a three-day state visit to Colombia in June 2023, where she learned about various Spanish cooperation projects in Guatemala.
© GettyKing Felipe
The then Prince travelled to the South American nation to attend the inauguration of Colombian President-elect Andres Pastrana in 1998.
© GettyQueen Maxima
Argentine-born Queen Maxima of The Netherlands visited Colombia in her role as United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development in February 2024.
© GettyCrown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel
The Swedish royal couple carried out an official visit to Colombia in October 2015, when Crown Princess Victoria was pregnant with her second child, Prince Oscar. Their son arrived in March 2016.
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