4 February 2026
Prince Harry has penned a heartfelt tribute to the place he calls his “second home” in a new book, as questions continue to swirl about where he truly feels most at ease.
Prince Harry has gushed about his “second home” of Botswana, Africa, in a foreword for a new book. The 41-year-old Duke of Sussex wrote the foreword for Okavango and the Source of Life: Exploring Africa’s Lost Headwaters, a new book by National Geographic explorer Steve Boyes.
Set to hit shelves on March 3, the book follows Boyes as he leads the Okavango Wilderness Project through remote regions of Africa.
“There are some places on Earth that are so vast, beautiful and alive, they truly open your eyes and mind,” Harry wrote in the foreword, shared by People.
“The Okavango Delta is one of those places, an enigmatic wetland that disappears into the Kalahari Desert and is home to the world’s largest remaining elephant population – wilderness beyond comparison.
“This paradise has been my second home for more than 25 years, a place to escape and be enveloped by nature’s sheer magnificence.”
Harry has long spoken about his love for Africa, first travelling to the continent in 1997, shortly after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
“I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad [King Charles] told my brother [Prince William] and me to pack our bags- we were going to Africa to get away from it all,” Harry revealed to Town and Country in 2019.
“My brother and I were brought up outdoors. We appreciate nature and everything about it. But it became more… This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world.”
Harry added that he wished he could spend “more time in Africa” and that being there feels like “being plugged into the earth”.
“You leave this place with a real appreciation of what it means to be alive,” he said.
Over the past two decades, Harry has returned to Africa numerous times, forging both a personal sanctuary and a base for his charitable and conservation work across Lesotho, Botswana, Angola and South Africa. In 2006, he founded the charity Sentebale to support children affected by HIV/AIDS, and has long worked alongside conservation group African Parks.
To honour his late mother, who famously walked through an active minefield in Huambo, Angola, in 1997 for the HALO Trust, Harry retraced her footsteps in 2019. He later returned to Angola in July 2025 to continue his advocacy work, visiting newly cleared mine sites. Harry has also shared his love for Africa with his wife, Meghan Markle.
The couple travelled to Botswana early in their relationship in 2016, returned to celebrate Meghan’s 36th birthday there in 2017, and later visited the continent on a royal tour with their son, Prince Archie, in 2019.
“Africa’s in my heart, and Africa’s in my soul,” Prince Harry said at an April 2024 event focused on strategies for distributing capital to support the next generation in southern Africa.
However, Harry’s glowing tribute to Africa comes amid fresh speculation about his life in the US. Earlier this week, insiders told Page Six that Harry “isn’t really doing much in America” and “doesn’t leave the house much”. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have lived in Montecito since stepping back from official royal duties and leaving the UK in 2020.
While Harry has made several solo trips back to Britain in the six years since, Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, have not returned since 2022. Although Harry is said to be “content” living in California, sources suggest he remains emotionally torn and increasingly nostalgic for the structure of his former royal life. Prince Harry labelled a ‘glorified house husband’ for ‘not doing anything’ with his life.
Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power questions what Prince Harry is up to nowadays. The Prince has previously spoken about his desire to bring his children to the UK and share his homeland with them.
“I miss the UK. I miss parts of the UK, of course I do. I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland, he told the BBC in September.
“I have always loved the UK and I always will love the UK.”
Source: https://shorturl.at/4m8WK
