Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Nigeria for tour to promote Invictus Games after royal said it was 'great' to be back in UK on whistlestop visit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have arrived in Nigeria for their 72 hour whistle stop tour after flying in together following a reunion at Heathrow.

The Duchess of Sussex landed on Thursday from Los Angeles and was waiting at the airport for Harry at the airport's VIP Windsor Suite.

They both boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja – which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The couple were seated in the First Class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

On arrival other travellers were held back while the couple were escorted off and they exchanged smiles with cabin crew as they left.

Nigerian officials met them at Abuja and they were taken out of a side door onto the jetty and into a waiting blacked out minibus.

Meghan was wearing black trousers and a brown jacket, while Harry walked behind in a black jacket and trousers and open necked shirt.

Aides carried their luggage, and they were accompanied by the same security team that had bene with Prince Harry during his recent brief stay in London.

The couple are thought to be staying in the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja where the presidential suit costs £600 a night.

Set in picturesque landscape garden in the heart of the Nigerian capital the hotel has a restaurant, pool and spa and is popular with expats and diplomats.

It is also close to the Nigerian Defence Headquarters where the couple will have their first engagement at 12pm General Christopher Musa the Chief of Defence Staff.

Brigadier General Tukur Gusau told MailOnline:' They will be tired after their journey, so they will rest fand then the first engagement is at midday at the Defence Headquarters.

'After that they will travel to Kaduna to meet wounded soldiers at a military hospital there before returning to Abuja for other engagements.'

The visit is primarily to promote Harry's Invictus Games initiative and comes after he met the Nigerian team at last year's event in Germany.

It was there he told the audience Meghan was 'rooting for team Nigeria' after discovering she had heritage from the West African nation.

On Sunday the couple will fly to Lagos for the second part of visit where they attend a basketball game promoted by the charity Giants of Africa and a fund raising event at the city's polo club.