Prince Harry has said Botswana was a “place to get away from it all” after his mum’s death in 1997. The Duke of Sussex made the comments on a visit to the African country on the fourth day of his family’s tour of the continent.
He said:
“Fifteen years I’ve been coming here, it’s a sense of escapism, a real sense of purpose.
“I have some of my closest friends here and I came here in 1997 or 1998 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.”
Harry was this week visiting Botswana while Meghan and baby Archie remained in South Africa. Their 10-day trip to the continent is their first royal tour as a family. Harry also talked about climate change on Thursday and said:
“We’re all in the middle of it.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who is not involved in conservation somehow, or shouldn’t be involved in conservation somehow.
“This last week led by Greta – the world’s children are striking.
“It’s an emergency, it’s a race against time which we are losing.
“Everyone knows that, there’s no excuse for not knowing that, and I think the most troubling part of it is, that I don’t believe there is anyone in this world that can deny science.”
The country holds a special place in Harry and Meghan’s hearts – they previously revealed they went on just two dates in London, before Harry asked Meghan to visit him there.
“I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana,” said Prince Harry during a televised interview after announcing their engagement in November 2017.
“And we camped out with each other under the stars… she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.”
Meghan’s engagement ring includes a centre diamond from Botswana, which is surrounded by two smaller diamonds from Princess Diana’s collection.
Prince Harry began Botswana tour by planting a baobab
Britain’s Prince Harry on Thursday kicked off a visit to Botswana on Thursday, travelling solo while his wife Duchess Meghan and their 4-month-old son Archie remained behind in South Africa…
In Botswana, Harry joined 200 schoolchildren on Thursday morning as they planted trees in the Chobe Forest Reserve. The Duke of Sussex planted a baobab, a tree that is “severely under threat across Africa,” according to an Instagram post that was accompanied by a photo of Harry kneeling next to a seedling and high-fiving one of the children.
The seeds were grown by the children in recycled milk tins, using fertilised soil from an elephant orphanage, the post said.
“If you look after nature, it will look after you,” Harry was quoted as saying.
Later on Thursday, he was scheduled to visit an HIV project and dedicate an area of the Chobe National Park to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, a network of forest conservation initiatives. He was to then travel to Angola, where he was expected to spend the evening in a de-mining camp run by a British charity in the town of Dirico.
Walking in the footsteps of Diana
Harry’s three days in Angola saw him walking in the footsteps of his mother, the late Princess Diana. He was to visit the location where an iconic picture of her was taken at a de-mining site in 1997 and an orthopaedic centre she visited that will be renamed after her. Meghan meantime, spent Thursday in the South African city of Cape Town, where she took part in a breakfast dedicated to women in public service.
Source: minsterfm.com, all4women.co.za / YouTube video courtesy of The Royal Family Channel
