Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been described as ‘political pawns’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are being protected by a “ring of steel” security detail as they continue their four-day tour of Colombia.

Having landed in the country’s capital of Bogotá on Thursday, the pair wasted little time in greeting Francia Marquez, Colombia’s vice president, where they enjoyed lunch and discussed their goals for the visit including championing online safety.

Despite the seemingly relaxed first encounter, the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es landed in a country going through some political turmoil with the government accused in some quarters of using the former working royals as “political pawns” to obscure a string of corruption allegations.

In light of this, the duke and duchess were reported to have been assigned an “immense security presence” with a “14 car and police van convoys”, according to a reporter covering the trip.

As the couple began their second day of engagements at a school, their security detail was seen protecting the couple and the vice president with a bulletproof briefcase.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍’s trip comes as the timeline for the Princess of Wales’s ongoing cancer treatment has been revealed.

She will continue to receive “preventative chemotherapy” over the summer to treat an undisclosed form of the disease before spending some months recovering

“The direction is positive [but] there will not be great change [in terms of her public appearances] and no one is giving a timescale for her return,” the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English said.