Prince Harry revealed Africa as his place to escape after Princess Diana's death

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'Now I feel deeply connected to this place and to Africa'

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The Sussex family are officially on tour, with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and of course baby Archie travelling to South Africa for the first leg of their 10-day tour.

Since their arrival, the family of three have made non-stop news, from baby Archie’s first appearance to the Duke and Duchess ripping up the royal rulebook, asking for the public not to curtsy or address them by title.

The most news however has come from the tributes to Princess Diana, with eagle-eyed royal fans spotting nods to the late Princess of Wales throughout the tour, from Archie’s bobble hat to Harry’s retracing of her footsteps at Angola landmine fields.

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Following in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, this morning The Duke of Sussex visited a de-mining site in Dirico, Angola, to raise awareness of the danger and prevalence of landmines that still exists today. The Duke joined @thehalotrust in their work to help clear the area to enable safe access for the local community. • “If an international ban on mines can be secured it means, looking far ahead, that the world may be a safer place for this generation's grandchildren.” – Princess Diana, 1997 Today in Angola The Duke of Sussex will retrace his mother’s steps to see the legacy of her work and how her connection with this community helped make the elimination of landmines a reality. In 1997 Diana Princess of Wales visited Huambo to bring global attention to the crisis of landmines and the people whose lives were being destroyed. Two decades later, the area has transformed from desolate and unhabitable to lively and vibrant, with colleges, schools and small businesses. The Duke is humbled to be visiting a place and a community that was so special to his mother, and to recognise her tireless mission as an advocate for all those she felt needed her voice the most, even if the issue was not universally popular. Princess Diana’s visit helped change the course of history, and directly led to the Convention against Anti-Personal Landmines, also known as the Ottawa Treaty. Today, with the support of @thehalotrust, Angola now has a stated aim under the Treaty to be clear of known mines by 2025. Despite great progress, 60 million people worldwide still live in fear of landmines every day. During his visit today, The Duke will walk along the street which was once the minefield where his mother was famously pictured. #RoyalVisitAfrica #RoyalVisitAngola Photo©️PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Sep 27, 2019 at 12:12am PDT

Prince Harry surprised everyone however when he gave a touching speech about his mother after arriving in Botswana on Thursday, explaining how important Africa was to him and how it had been his escape following Princess Diana’s death.

’15 years I’ve been coming here, it’s a sense of escapism, a real sense of purpose,’ Prince Harry explained to reporters. ’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.’

He continued: ‘Now I feel deeply connected to this place and to Africa.’

We’re wishing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle a happy rest of their tour!

The post Prince Harry revealed Africa as his place to escape after Princess Diana's death appeared first on Marie Claire.

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