Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were photographed with a wanted man, whose airline used the meeting to advertise itself as “#royallyapproved” online in the latest example of a recurring royal problem.
Earlier this month, the Duke and Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 spent several days in Nigeria, meeting school children and celebrating Harry’s Invictus Games tournament with soldiers from the Nigerian army.
During the successful trip, Meghan also celebrated her discovery that she is 43 percent Nigerian, describing it as “my country.”
However, the Daily Mail reported that one of the dignitaries they met, Allen Onyema, chief executive and chairman of airline Air Peace, is wanted in America on a 2019 fraud indictment. He is accused of “using his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than $20 million from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts.”
A grand jury indictment, seen by Newsweek, accuses Onyema of transferring funds from organizations aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians into his own U.S. bank account and using them “to pay for personal living expenses, among other purchases. For example, Onyema purchased an armored Lexus LX570 ($204,000.00).”
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The indictment also accused him of using money from these organizations to build up the Air Peace fleet: “Funds to purchase these aircraft came from accounts for All-time Peace Media Communications, Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, Every Child Limited, and International Center for Non-Violence. The total amount of funds from these accounts used to purchase aircraft for Air Peace exceeded $3,000,000.”
The plane Prince Harry and Meghan flew on does not match any of the serial numbers mentioned in the grand jury indictment.
Newsweek approached Air Peace by email for comment.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Begin New Post-Royal Era
Harry and Meghan were pictured with Onyema at the airport in Lagos during their official welcome on May 12, having traveled there from Abuja on an Air Peace plane.
Newsweek has been told that Nigeria’s chief of defense staff organized all their internal travel, including the flight, which also carried defense staff personnel.
Air Peace is the largest airline in Nigeria and West Africa with daily flights from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.
The saga raises a very royal problem, namely that many people around the world seek to position themselves in proximity to princes and princesses to boost their own status and reputations. Each interaction comes with reputational risk for whichever royal they are meeting.
And Air Peace has certainly sought to make hay, posting pictures and video footage of the duke and duchess meeting Onyema on its official Twitter feed.
A post on X read: “We were elated to have on board earlier today the Duke & Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍, Prince Harry & Meghan, as well as their entourage.
We were elated to have on board earlier today the Duke & Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍, Prince Harry & Meghan, as well as their entourage.The royal couple were received in Lagos by top-tier military officials, Air Peace Chairman, Dr Allen Onyema & other government delegates. pic.twitter.com/cmtQamuCQw
— Air Peace (@flyairpeace) May 12, 2024
“The royal couple were received in Lagos by top-tier military officials, Air Peace Chairman, Dr Allen Onyema & other government delegates.
“#HarryandMeghan #HarryandMeghaninNigeria #RoyallyApproved #BetterDealWithAirPeace.”
In fact, the video of Meghan arriving has been watermarked with Air Peace branding and the final frame is the company’s logo and slogan, making it effectively an advert.
The reference to Air Peace being “royally approved” may also ruffle feathers at the palace, which attempts—with varying degrees of success—to prevent the royal brand being linked to private companies.
In fact, in 2019 Kensington Palace went as far as denouncing as “categorically not true” a cosmetic surgeon’s claim that Princess Kate had received 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 botox in order to protect the monarchy from efforts to trade off its reputation.
There are many other past examples of ill-advised meetings, though, including King Charles III’s friendship with children’s entertainer Jimmy Savile, who was later exposed as a prolific predatory pedophile who hid in plain sight.
Prince Harry and Prince William also posed with Sean “Diddy” Combs when he played at a concert in honor of their mother Princess Diana. No doubt, it did not occur to either of them that one day Harry’s name would be dragged into a lawsuit alleging numerous offenses against the rapper, including trafficking. Combs’ lawyer has said he is innocent.
Meghan was also put in a tight spot after it emerged she had worn earrings given as a wedding present by Mohammed bin Salman in 2018, even as he was being linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
From Harry and Meghan’s perspective, though, the saga presents a genuine dilemma. They will take the view that they did nothing more than accept the hospitality of a host nation in a country where they had a successful tour, paid for in substantial part by Nigeria’s chief of defense staff.
Yet Onyema will be able to trade of his association with the couple for the rest of his days, should he choose to do so. He is, of course, only accused of fraud and he is innocent until proven guilty, but it does show the trust required to pull off a visit like the one to Nigeria.
Back in their days as working royals, they would have had the the British embassy on the ground helping to organize their travel and vet the dignitaries they were due to meet, but now they have quit that assistance is no longer available to them.
Either they will simply decide that it does not matter and continue on their current path with little concern for the PR boost they have given Air Peace, or they will have to completely rethink how they fund and organize future tours of this kind and tread more carefully.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
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