Meghan Markle's Nigerian heritage was referenced by Prince Harry at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games in Germany on Saturday.
Nigeria joined Colombia and Israel in sending their first-ever delegation to the 2023 games for injured, sick and wounded veterans, in Düsseldorf, Germany this month.
The games were founded by Harry in 2014 and have become one of his main working focus points since leaving the royal family in 2020. The prince attended the opening events of the games alone and is expected to be joined by wife Meghan, before the closing ceremony on September 16.
The prince's reference to his wife's newfound link with Nigeria was met with applause and an excited reaction from the crowd, including the Nigerian delegation, on September 9 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
"We're really excited to have new nations join us. Let's hear it for Colombia, Israel and Nigeria," Harry told the thousands gathered for the event.
"Now, I'm not saying we play favorites in our home, but since my wife discovered she is of Nigerian descent, it's likely to get a little bit more competitive this year!"
Meghan first revealed that she had made her genealogical discovery during her awardwinning podcast, Archetypes, in 2022.
The podcast's stated aim was to "dissect, explore, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back." During an episode focused on the "angry black woman" trope, Meghan discussed her background with celebrity interviewer and internet personality Ziwe.
"I just had my genealogy done a couple years ago," Meghan said, to which Ziwe responded: "What? What are you?"
"Forty-three percent Nigerian," the duchess replied. "I'm going to start to dig deeper into all this because anybody that I've told, especially Nigerian women, are like 'What!'"
Meghan has not publicly visited Nigeria during her married life, though she has said how important Africa is to her. It is one of the places where she bonded with Prince Harry early in their relationship. Meghan has openly discussed her race and how she has viewed herself in the years since marrying into the royal family in 2018.
In an episode of Archetypes with pop star Mariah Carey, Meghan discussed how society views mixed-race women, saying that she never truly knew the extent of Black women's experience until her relationship with Prince Harry became public.
"I think for us it's very different because we're light-skinned. You're not treated as a Black woman. You're not treated as a white woman. You sort of fit in between," she told Carey.
"I mean, if there's any time in my life that it's been more focused on my race, it's only once I started dating my husband. Then I started to understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman.
"Because up until then, I had been treated like a mixed woman. And things really shifted," Meghan added.
Since leaving the royal family, both she and Harry have made part of their philanthropic outreach focused on supporting women of color.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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