Prince Harry makes emotional plea for mental health support after 'lonely' UK trip

Prince Harry kicked off Nigeria tour with wife Meghan Markle with a heartfelt speech during their visit to Lights Academy school.

The Duke of Sussex reflected on the importance of speaking up for mental health and acknowledging grief and sadness as real emotions.

"In some places around the world, more than you would believe, there is a stigma against mental health,” he began. “Too many people don't want to talk about it because it's invisible, it's in your mind and we can't see it.”

"But guess what, every single person in this room, the youngest, the oldest, every single person has mental health.

“So therefore, you have to look after yourself in order to be able to help other people, other people have to look after themselves in order to be able to look after you. That's the way it works,” the prince added.

He went on to encourage the audience to acknowledge their feelings, including notions like “today is a bad day.”

"That you woke up this morning feeling sad, that you left school feeling stressed,” Harry continued. "That you have lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to.

"All of these things, you may have been led to believe, are not for conversation.

"We are here to tell you today that is not the case,” he added.

The speech comes following Harry’s three-day visit to the UK where he was deprived of seeing cancer-stricken King Charles due to the latter’s busy schedule.

Moreover, no member of the royal family joined the Invictus Games service at St Paul’s Cathedral despite being invited by the duke.