Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Will Reportedly Tour Africa This Fall
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to take a royal tour of Africa sometime this fall.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will travel to Africa, where they will visit the countries of Angola and Malawi as well as South Africa, in part to continue Princess Diana’s legacy of humanitarian work on the continent with the HALO Trust, The Sun reported.
The royal couple’s visit to Malawi is the result of Harry’s desire to increase the work of the charity Sentebale, which he co-founded with his good friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.
It is not clear on whether baby Archie will join the couple. The Sun reported that palace aides were checking on whether it would be safe to bring the baby on the tour.
The duke has been vocal about the impact his mother’s campaigns had on him. In 1997, Diana famously walked through a live minefield in Angola in 1997 to campaign against landmines. She also garnered attention for the cause by sitting with Sandra Tigica, a 13-year-old girl whose legs were blown off by a mine. Diana’s efforts marked a turning point in the campaign, and just months after she died in August of that year, world leaders came together and placed a worldwide ban on landmines.
Harry wishes to continue his mother’s legacy.
On International Mine Awareness Day in 2017, Harry said that his mother faced criticism as she attempted to raise awareness of the danger of landmines.
“Some believed she had stepped over the line into the arena of political campaigning – but for her this wasn’t about politics; it was about people,” he said, per The Sun.
“She knew she had a big spotlight to shine, and she used it to bring attention on the people that others had forgotten, ignored or were too afraid to support.”
While a tour of Africa would be a security risk for Harry and Meghan, palace officials are determined to move forward with it, ITV reported.
NEW: Details on Prince Harry and Meghan’s Africa tour later this year.
Malawi ??
Angola ??
South Africa ??
Angola was where Princess Diana was pictured with the visor in that minefield. @TheHALOTrust
In Malawi, the focus will be on @Sentebale projects.https://t.co/YIDkwEKtVz pic.twitter.com/cJxW0rTVSc— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 11, 2019
On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace announced that Harry would attend the conference “Mine Clearance, Conservation, and Economic Development in Angola” prior to the tour. The palace also pointed out that the “presence of land mines and remnants of the civil war render large areas of the country unsafe.”
The Sun reported that the couple was also planning a six-month sabbatical to the continent sometime in the future.
The royal couple last visited Africa with a trip to Morocco in February 2018.
