{"id":835431,"date":"2026-03-19T04:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/835431\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T04:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:03:17","slug":"why-the-duchess-of-edinburgh-skipped-the-nigerian-state-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/835431\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Duchess of Edinburgh Skipped the Nigerian State Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The senior British royals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70773423\/royal-family-nigeria-state-banquet-2026-photos\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:hosted their first state banquet of the year;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;hosted their first state banquet of the year&quot;}\" class=\"link \">hosted their first state banquet of the year<\/a> on Wednesday evening, honoring Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. However, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a12808670\/prince-edward-facts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Prince Edward;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Prince Edward&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Prince Edward<\/a> was in attendance for the formal dinner at Windsor Castle, his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, appeared to have missed the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Known as one of the hardest working members of the royal family, the Duchess has had a very busy schedule lately. Just last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70734708\/sophie-duchess-edinburgh-new-york-visit-march-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sophie made a quiet visit to New York;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Sophie made a quiet visit to New York&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Sophie made a quiet visit to New York<\/a> to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting. That was right after traveling to Italy with Prince Edward, where they were supporting British athletes at the 2026 Winter Paralympics. The Duke of Edinburgh <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70677435\/prince-edward-great-britain-2026-winter-paralympics-message\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:has served as patron of the British Paralympic Association;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;has served as patron of the British Paralympic Association&quot;}\" class=\"link \">has served as patron of the British Paralympic Association<\/a> since 2003. However, being in Cortina, the couple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70679502\/why-prince-edward-sophie-duchess-of-edinburgh-skipped-2026-commonwealth-day-service\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:did miss Commonwealth Day services;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;did miss Commonwealth Day services&quot;}\" class=\"link \">did miss Commonwealth Day services<\/a> at Westminster Abbey on Monday with the rest of the senior British royals.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"State Visit By The President Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria And Mrs. Tinubu - Day One\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/92ca8d26b8fbfd660d70bfab8964abe3.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Prince Edward seen entering St. George\u2019s Hall with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Princess Royal.WPA Pool &#8211; Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This is the first state visit by a Nigerian head-of-state <a href=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com?id=74968X1596630&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcvg1g070zwlo&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.townandcountrymag.com%2Fsociety%2Ftradition%2Fa70738407%2Fsophie-duchess-edinburgh-nigerian-state-banquet-2026%2F\" data-i13n=\"elm:affiliate_link;elmt:premonetized\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:to the United Kingdom in 37 years;elm:affiliate_link;elmt:premonetized;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;affiliate_link&quot;,&quot;yAffiliateService&quot;:&quot;premonetized&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;to the United Kingdom in 37 years&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" class=\"link \">to the United Kingdom in 37 years<\/a>. The most recent occasion was in 1989 when General Ibrahim Babangida, who took power of <a href=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com?id=74968X1596630&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fc0kg58xk4dvo&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.townandcountrymag.com%2Fsociety%2Ftradition%2Fa70738407%2Fsophie-duchess-edinburgh-nigerian-state-banquet-2026%2F\" data-i13n=\"elm:affiliate_link;elmt:premonetized\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the country in 1985 in a bloodless coup;elm:affiliate_link;elmt:premonetized;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;affiliate_link&quot;,&quot;yAffiliateService&quot;:&quot;premonetized&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;the country in 1985 in a bloodless coup&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" class=\"link \">the country in 1985 in a bloodless coup<\/a>, met with Queen Elizabeth during a four-day visit. Today\u2019s state banquet also started later than usual as this was the first time since 1928 that the British royal family has hosted a Muslim head of state during Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70779790\/kate-middleton-tolu-coker-outfit-state-visit-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Nigerian state visit concludes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Nigerian state visit concludes&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Nigerian state visit concludes<\/a> with tonight\u2019s dinner. King Charles and Queen Camilla\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70738204\/queen-camilla-tiara-nigerian-state-banquet-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:wearing a familiar headpiece, the Belgian Sapphire Tiara;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;wearing a familiar headpiece, the Belgian Sapphire Tiara&quot;}\" class=\"link \">wearing a familiar headpiece, the Belgian Sapphire Tiara<\/a>\u2014led the traditional procession into the gala dinner with Nigeria\u2019s first couple. Also in attendance were the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.townandcountrymag.com\/society\/tradition\/a70773392\/kate-middleton-lovers-knot-tiara-nigerian-state-banquet\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Princess of Wales in her favorite Lover\u2019s Knot tiara;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Princess of Wales in her favorite Lover\u2019s Knot tiara&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Princess of Wales in her favorite Lover\u2019s Knot tiara<\/a>, Princess Anne in the Meander Tiara, and the Duchess of Gloucester in Queen Mary\u2019s Iveagh Tiara.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>You Might Also Like<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8220;Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.&#8221; The senior British&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,239475,13080,5106,1102,4884,167123,44003,239474,21034,519,712,95638,16,15,17203],"class_list":["post-835431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-british-paralympic-association","tag-british-royals","tag-duchess-of-edinburgh","tag-edinburgh","tag-great-britain","tag-head-of-state","tag-oluremi-tinubu","tag-president-bola-ahmed-tinubu","tag-prince-edward","tag-royal-family","tag-scotland","tag-state-banquet","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-windsor-castle"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116253858753123728","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}