Harry: I‘ll finish my mum’s work on landmines
EXCLUSIVE: Prince will take up Diana’s mission to clear ex-war zones
PRINCE Harry plans to visit Angola to help rid the country of landmines.
The 34-year-old royal will continue the mission his mum Princess Diana started before her death in 1997, aged 36. A royal source said: “This is all about wanting to fulfil his mother’s legacy.”
Harry’s visit will form part of an African tour in the autumn which may involve Meghan and their son Archie.
NO one can forget the image of Princess Diana walking through a minefield in Angola – and now Prince Harry hopes his own mercy mission to the country will fulfil her legacy.
The 34-year-old is planning a trip there to help clear the country of the explosive devices left over from a civil war that ripped the country apart.
Diana was pictured there wearing protective clothing in January 1997 to highlight the work of the landmine clearing HALO Trust – months before she died aged 36 in a Paris car crash.
A royal source said: “Harry has made no secret of what an influence his mother has been on him.
“His trip to Africa comes at a time in his life where he has become a parent himself. Diana had a great affinity with children and recognised the worth of having boots on the ground could affect change in such an important way.
“This is all about wanting to fulfil his mother’s legacy and showing his wife and son the places that have had the most positive effect on him in his life.”
Harry travelled to Angola’s region of Cuando Cubango in 2013 as patron of the Halo Trust charity and saw the human suffering landmines cause.
He will return there in the autumn as part of an African tour. Palace aides are investigating the security situation to see if wife Meghan and their newborn son Archie will accompany him on the trip.
They are expected to take part in some of the tour, which will also cover Botswana, South Africa and possibly Malawi. A project for Harry and Meghan to spend up to six months at a time living in Africa over the next two to three years is already under way. Sources revealed the couple both want to focus on issues around conservation, the environment and education.
On Monday, Harry will attend an event on mine clearance, conservation, and economic development in Angola at Chatham House in London, Buckingham Palace said yesterday.
It is being held in partnership with the HALO Trust. The Angolan government is to provide £44million of funding to clear explosives in two national parks. In 2017, Harry – who last night attended a concert in Hampton Court – said his mum’s work on banning the explosives “wasn’t universally popular”. He added: “Some believed she stepped over the line into political campaigning. But for her this wasn’t about politics, it was about people. She knew she had a big spotlight to shine and she used it to bring attention on the people others had forgotten.” The Angolan civil war raged from 1975 to 2002, leaving more than 500,000 dead. It followed the war of independence against Portugal that started in 1961.