Mother on Prince Harry’s mind during nostalgic visit to Antigua
CARIBBEAN: Prince Harry will make a nostalgic return today to the island paradise where he spent one of his final holidays with his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
The prince, 32, will spend a day on Barbuda, one of his mother’s favourite hideaways, which he last visited with her and his brother Prince William in April 1997, four months before his mother’s death.
The island of just 4000 inhabitants has been described as his ‘‘Caribbean home’’ and the trip will bring back memories of playing in the surf with his mother during their holidays there.
Royal sources said it was ‘‘unlikely’’ the prince’s busy schedule would leave any time for him to make a pilgrimage to the holiday spots of his childhood - including ‘‘Princess Diana Beach’’ - but he has said in the past that not a day goes by without him thinking of the mother he lost when he was 12, and she will undoubtedly be in his mind.
The prince will have to endure a bumpy, hour-long ferry crossing from Antigua to reach Barbuda, where he will visit one of the world’s largest colonies of frigate birds, which nest in the island’s mangroves.
He will also visit a primary school and a secondary school before making the return journey to Antigua, 50 kilometres to the south.
Ascot Michael, tourism minister of Antigua and Barbuda, told the prince when he arrived in the country on Monday: ‘‘As a child you visited with your dear mother, the beloved Princess Diana, who graced our islands with her presence, her beauty and her charm.
‘‘We are delighted that you will return to Barbuda, where you spent holiday time with her and your brother Prince William.
Yesterday Harry met cricketing royalty - in the form of Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Andy Roberts, three of the West Indies’ all-time greats - on a visit to the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground in Antigua.
As he was introduced to Richards underneath a bronze statue of the former batsman, Harry joked that he felt he ‘‘should be kneeling’’ in front of the cricket legend.
He also told Ambrose: ‘‘You’ve shrunk a bit,’’ as he measured up against the two-metre former fast bowler.
The three men presented him with a signed cricket bat and the prince was clearly delighted with his gift, immediately trying it out for size by taking up a batsman’s stance.
Harry then posed for pictures with local children, some of whom were wearing T-shirts printed with his photograph. - Telegraph Group