Harry and Meghan: Duke sips kava drink as royals land in Fiji



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Media captionPeople cheered as Prince Harry brought the cup of kava to his lips.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived in Fiji, where Prince Harry has tried kava – a traditional non-alcoholic social drink.

He tried the beverage at a ceremony which featured songs and dancing.

Crowds cheered as Prince Harry, who is used to treat stress and stress in some countries but can not be imported into the EU.

Harry and Meghan were then met by huge crowds of people at the Grand Pacific Hotel, where they waved from a balcony.

The pair's 16-day tour will also take them to New Zealand, Tonga and return to Australia.

The duke and duchess, who are expecting their first baby, visited Albert Park in Fiji 's capital Suva – the same place, visited by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh 65 years ago.

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Harry and Meghan stood on the same hotel as Queen and Prince Philip in 1953

Prince Harry said: "Bula venaka!

The couple also attended by Fiji's President.

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Reuters

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The duke and duchess – pictured here at a dinner party in Fiji

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The royal couple presents a gift to Jioji Konrote

What is kava?

Australia's Alcohol and Drug Foundation calls for a drug that slows the message between the brain and the body.

It is made from the root or the stump of the kava shrub.

Pharmacology professor David Colquhoun, from University College London, said "Can be pretty foolish to drink it."

He pointed to a warning from the US Food and Drug Administration in 2002 which highlighted the risk of liver damage from kava.

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Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip, also tried kava during a visit to Fiji in 1982

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And Prince Charles tried kava while wearing a grass skirt during a visit to the neighboring island of Vanuatu earlier this year


Analysis

By BBC royal correspond Jonny Dymond

It was an astonishing welcome and even hardened royal watchers were open-mouthed.

In the center of Suva, Albert Park struck six, the duke and duchess arrived.

Around 15,000 Fijians had gathered at the Park. Thousands more lined the road from the airport.

Cheers swept the park as Harry and Meghan stepped from their car. And then for an hour, a welcoming ceremony under the darkening skies.

There was dancing, and singing, men in grass skirts, and spears. There were prayers. And there was kava, a drink cultivated from the plant of the same name that is drunk throughout Polynesia. The duke drank some, to more applause from the crowd.

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Rain swept the park. The couple has brought miserable English weather with them to many stops on their turn. Nobody cares.

Harry spoke, lurching into Fijian at times, to more applause.

And then the couple made their way to the Grand Pacific Hotel, where they appeared on the balcony and waved.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had done the same, more than six decades ago. And once again the cheers erupted around Albert Park.

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