Many Canadians are eagerly awaiting the British royal family’s visit, but another member of a West African royal family is currently living - and working – in Metro Vancouver.

Eric Manu, 32, was working as a landscaper in Langley, B.C. last year when he received some surprising news from his tribe in Ghana: he was about to become their leader following a relative’s death.

“It’s a huge experience,” he said. “You have to embrace it with passion.”

Manu embraced his new role as crowned chief of the Akan tribe in the village of Adansi Aboabo No. 2 in southern Ghana. Now he has now returned to Canada for a few months – and resumed his job as a landscaper.

“Sometimes we go to the (job) site and they say, ‘You are the chief. I saw you on TV. Why are you doing the landscaping?’” he told CTV News. “This is humbleness, you understand. Anytime I’m in Canada I’m proud to work for my boss.”

Manu first moved to B.C. in 2012 after marrying a Canadian woman he met in Ghana. But his uncle, who had served as chief of the tribe, died two years ago, placing Manu next in line for the honour.

The new chief says he is proud of how friends in Canada have stepped up to help his community.

For example, Manu’s Canadian employer Susan Watson began a foundation called To the Moon and Back, and shipped a large container of goods for his village.

Becoming royalty can bring challenges, but Manu is making positive changes. One of his projects is a community fitness project.

“Sunday morning around 5 a.m. we go jogging,” he said. “We trot almost a mile and a half.”

He and Watson are also working on improving healthcare, an idea that came about after his Canadian boss visited the community and made lifelong friends.

“They're beautiful inside and out and they have absolutely nothing,” said Watson. “And you come home here and most of us are miserable and we want something more.”

As for Manu, he has stayed “a simple guy” through this life-changing experience.

“It’s something of my heritage, my culture, and traditions,” he said. “It has been such an experience for me.”

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Michele Brunoro