Nigeria Trip Nothing But a 'Cover': Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's 'Tour' Is Merely to Make Up for King Charles 'Setback'

Prince Harry was reportedly "snubbed' by his father, King Charles III, who decided not to meet with his youngest son on the California Duke's whistle-stop trip to Britain on Wednesday, May 8.

"Meghan has wisely decided that a hostile press and public would prefer her to stay away from the Service at St Paul's to commemorate a decade of Invictus," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams dished. "Their visit to Nigeria is a cover for what is a setback."

And a cold shoulder move by the King it most certainly was...

"This will be seen as a snub," Fitzwilliams explained. "There is little doubt that this was not arranged as it should have been as King Charles has always made it clear that his door is open to Harry."

Harry famously flew to visit his dad on February 6 after the sovereign revealed his cancer diagnosis to the world the day before. Some reports claim the Duke and monarch met for an hour, some say 45 minutes, and others claim the actual sit-down meeting lasted a mere half hour.

"Their meeting after the King's diagnosis was extremely brief and we do not know how well it went," Fitzwilliams added.

The expert continued: "The King has engagements and duties he needs to perform and has to balance these with treatment for cancer that must be deeply debilitating. The fact that they will not be meeting will, as all things affecting the royal family will, be worldwide news. If the royal rift is ever to be healed it will be when matters are less public and can be considered privately and less stressfully."

As for the Nigeria tour, the pair will reportedly undertake a visit across the African nation just days after the Duke's visit to Britain. This led one royal analyst to claim the duo is trying to "one-up" the British royal family, particularly the senior royals, who have not toured a foreign nation in over six months.

"From the Nigerian perspective, this is going to be a pseudo/quai royal state visit for Harry and Meghan," outspoken royal expert Lady Colin Campbell told an outlet. "Ex-royals really have no right to embark on visits of this nature."

Other analysts remain optimistic that the Montecito royal rebels could potentially heal an old rift they initiated with the monarchy.

"If they were to mention the Commonwealth, of which it is a member, in a favorable light in a speech, this would be positive," Fitzwilliams pointed out. "They trashed the institution, Queen Elizabeth's most important legacy, in their documentary Harry & Meghan. This was not well received as, when they were senior working royals, they were Commonwealth patronages by the late Queen."

Daily Express reported on Fitzwilliams' remarks.