Where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should head for their honeymoon

Now they are married it’s time to speculate where Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will head for their honeymoon.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to remain tight lipped on where they’re headed for their honeymoon is a perfect excuse to speculate on where they should go.

While Namibia’s still a hot favourite, there are other destinations that suit their safely adventurous, low-key luxe vibe just as well.

Here are six places that get our non-royal seal of approval for their first break together as husband and wife, which will reportedly be postponed until the end of the year.

Nevis

A view of Nevis from St Kitts.

This tiny Caribbean island holds a special place in Harry’s heart – Princess Diana took he and William there on holiday in 1993. He returned in November 2016 as part of a royal tour and was photographed releasing baby turtles into the sea at Lovers Beach. And this is an ideal island for lovers. Unlike some of its flashy, adrenaline-fuelled neighbours, sunhat-shaped Nevis is cooly classy – much like the couple themselves. Blissfully uncrowded white beaches rise through bougainvillea, trumpet bush, avocado and mango trees and velvet monkey-populated rainforest to 985-metre Mount Nevis, which, in keeping with the island’s dreamy feel, often has its head in the clouds.

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Nevis is the smaller of the two islands that make up the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Neither Harry nor Meghan appears to be the type to blob out on holiday, so they’d no doubt appreciate the horse riding, mountain biking, diving with sea turtles and stingrays and former sugar plantation touring on offer. Jungle hideaway Golden Rock, where Anna Wintour spent one New Year’s Eve, is perfect for those who value their privacy. The turret-like, two-storey apartment in an old sugar mill, with its giant four-poster bed, certainly looks fit for royalty. But wherever they head on this laid-back island, Harry and Meghan shouldn’t find it too hard to stay away from prying eyes. Island etiquette decrees that if you arrive at Lovers Beach to find a car parked there you should leave and come back another day.

Rwanda

The Virunga Mountains and Volcanoes in Rwanda.

Meghan spent time in the “Land of a Thousand Hills” as a World Vision ambassador in 2016 and Africa holds strong sentimental value for the couple: they spent their first holiday together in Botswana and the bobby dazzler of a diamond in her engagement ring was sourced from there. While the name Rwanda will always be tied to the 1994 genocide, tourism is once again a key contributor to the country and the socially conscious couple would surely be glad to help out. They’re both big animal lovers from way back (he is said to have spent hours tending to sheep at Highgrove as a kid, while she fed the canine star of Married with Children leftovers while hanging out on set with her dad as a child) so are bound to enjoy seeking out some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. 

More than just primates: Rwanda is home to one of Africa’s oldest forests, home to more than 70 mammal species.

Having served in Afghanistan, we’re sure Harry’s tough enough to handle the two-day hike up 4507-metre Mt Karisimbi, and Meghan’s proven she’s not averse to roughing it either – the pair spent time at a bush camp in Botswana (albeit of the fit for a prince and soon-to-be-duchess variety). The couple could enjoy a stellar sunset on the shores of Lake Kivu, one of the African Great Lakes, before heading south to Nyungwe Forest National Park, which incorporates one of the oldest forests in Africa and is home to 13 species of primates. If they’d prefer to stick to luxury digs, Nyungwe House, set on a working tea plantation, could be an option. It’d give Harry the chance to get back in touch with his wild side – albeit on rainforest treks as opposed to luxe London clubs – before returning to a wooden villa which may be just remote and rustic enough to convince the couple they’re living life on the edge. There are also plenty of options for charity work, which seems to be key to their romance – Meghan has said it was their shared passion for social change that scored Harry the second date.

​Tetiaroa, Tahiti

The Brando – a “cocoon between heaven and earth”.

The late Marlon Brando’s South Pacific playground would certainly enable the couple to canoodle in private. The original Tahitian inhabitants considered the atoll sacred – a heaven on earth for the gods and the spirits of dearly departed ancestors to enjoy themselves. The dozen motus encircling the lagoon of every tropical island fan’s dreams was the favoured retreat of Tahitian high chiefs who would compete in archery tournaments and play war games while their princesses sat under the coconut trees and worked at becoming ever more voluptuous.

More recent VIP visitors include Barack and Michelle Obama and Pippa Middleton and James Matthews, who honeymooned there in 2017. Developed with the help of Brando’s family, The Brando, the sole resort on the atoll, offers activities such as biking, water sports, humpback whale watching and exploring by Polynesian outrigger canoe. Meghan, who wrote about health and wellbeing on her now defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, is likely to appreciate the spa, which offers a lengthy list of Polynesian-inspired treatments. And we’re sure Harry wouldn’t turn his nose up at being fussed over in the spa’s crowning glory, treehouse-like Fare Mana, either – the resort describes it as a “cocoon between heaven and earth”.

Palawan, Philippines

A beautiful small lagoon in El Nido Palawan, Philippines.

The Philippines’ most sparsely populated region is on Meghan’s travel wish list according to the The Tig’s former Instagram feed and it also happens to be home to Asia’s first yoga, raw food and inner dance retreat, Bahay Kalipay. The daughter of a yoga teacher, Meghan has been practicing since she was seven so she’d fit right in and, while it’s harder to picture Harry donning a pair of tights and making like a downward dog or happy baby, it might loosen him up a bit after a lifetime of enduring the rigours of being a royal.

We’re not sure how Harry feels about yoga but on an island like Palawan he couldn’t help but relax into it.

With his wild party days behind him, he mightn’t need the “deep nature cleanse”, but the “morning flush”, essential oil-infused raw vegan meals and colon cleanse will surely help him in his quest to lead a reasonably regular life. It’s also fun to imagine the prince giving the inner dancing a go. Rooted in ancient Filipino babaylan traditions, it involves drawing upon pent up energy to burst into spontaneously ecstatic movement. The retreat describes it as a “transformational self awakening process” which can only be of benefit to two of the biggest influencers of the moment. That the retreat is in the city of Puerto Princesa only makes it more apt. 

Las Vegas, USA

Las Vegas would provide the perfect opportunity for Harry to reclaim his Party Prince crown.

Ok, so Harry probably won’t choose to return to the place where he was infamously photographed playing a game of strip billiards for his honeymoon, but we’re sure it would make for a great romantic break at a later date. Meghan may think she’s already hit the jackpot in bagging a prince but the bright lights of Vegas have a way of making anyone feel that really they could – and should – have more. If they do tire of living the high life at uber-luxurious hotels, celebrity chef-helmed restaurants and big-budget stage shows, they could head for the desert which is far from the barren landscape you might expect.

You don’t have to venture far from the Strip to find yourself somewhere equally wild, albeit in a natural way. Exploring the Valley of Fire with its Hollywood western-esque scenery, kayaking the Colorado River, catching a helicopter to the Grand Canyon, racing a dune buggy and even skiing or snowboarding near Mount Charleston are all viable options. What’s the point of being a royal and having an estimated combined net worth of at least US$30 million (NZ$43.4 million) after all if you can’t live it up a little (or a lot?).

 – Sunday Star Times

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