Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent trip to Nigeria has reportedly sent signals to King Charles that the duo “refuse to accept” they’re no longer working royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently made a three-day trip to Nigeria after being invited by the country’s Chief of Defence. They visited schools, hospitals and promoted the Invictus Games.

Now, royal author Tom Quinn says the visit was apparently “a bold statement that they refuse to accept they are no longer working royals.”

“When you look at what Harry and Meghan got up to on their Nigeria visit it is easy to see why the senior royals are worried. Everything you might expect from an official royal visit was there – the receptions, the visits to schools and charities, to wounded soldiers and the disabled,” he explained to The Mirror.

He said King Charles and Prince William were left “scratching their heads” trying to come up with how to “control this nightmare situation.”

“Meghan and Harry’s speeches and their whole attitude has been designed to give the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals and William and his father King Charles don’t like it one bit. For Charles and William, it’s as if Meghan and Harry are saying, ‘We don’t need your permission to be working royals – we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like,'” he noted.