After facing some criticism in recent days for their apparently hypocritical carbon footprint, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip to Africa was a big success.
The tour, which began back on September 23 and ended on Wednesday, October 2, included many moments of inspiration from Meghan Markle: the Duchess spoke with a group of female tech company founders, met with young leaders at the Obama Foundation, and gave a powerful speech about gender equality at the University of Johannesburg.
But for Prince Harry it was a bit more personal.
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As a source told Us Weekly on Thursday:
“It’s been an extremely emotional journey for Harry.”
The royal visited Botswana at a pivotal moment in his young life. As he told reporters last week:
“I came in ’97/’98, straight after my mum died, so it was a nice place to get away from it all. But now I feel deeply connected to this place and to Africa.”
Princess Diana died at the unbelievably tender age of 36 years old, when Harry was just 12.
During her life she shone a light on many charities, but perhaps none more memorable than the HALO Trust, whose mission was to keep future generations safe from the scourge of landmines.
In one of her bravest acts, the late Princess of Wales famously walked through a live minefield in Huambo, Angola. A path had been cleared, obviously, but safety was not 100% guaranteed, as it never is with the dangerous, indiscriminate war weapons.
The awareness she brought to the collateral damage caused by mines, with thousands of innocents maimed and killed over the years, is credited with leading to a push for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention later that year.
Last Friday, September 27, Harry got to walk in his mother’s footsteps, quite literally, as he made a trip to Angola and walked through another live minefield the Halo Trust is working to clear, even helping to detonate a mine.
He then retraced Diana’s steps almost exactly in the town of Huambo — where thankfully the mines are long gone.
Where Diana was famously photographed now stands a tree.
Harry gave a speech in front of the Diana Tree, calling landmines “an unhealed scar of war” and emphasizing the importance of carrying on his mother’s work:
“By clearing the landmines we can help this community find peace, and with peace comes opportunity.”
According to Us Weekly‘s source, Meghan was “constantly telling him his mom would be so proud of him” al throughout the trip.
Now we know why.
[Image via WENN/Avalon.]
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