#PrinceHarryFalls
PRINCE Harry got back on his horse moments after taking a rather public fall in Cape Town during a polo match in aid of his Lesotho charity.
The royal was not harmed and even scored a goal for team Sentebale, who lost by a point.
Guests at the event, held at the Val de Vie Estate, included South Africa’s contender for the post of Fifa boss, Tokyo Sexwale and his young girlfriend, Nataxa Da Silva; former Proteas captain Graeme Smith; swimmer Ryk Neethling and TV presenter Minenhle Dlamini.
This is the first time the Sentebale Royal Salute Cup event took place on African soil. It has been in held in Barbados, the UK, Brazil, the US and Abu Dhabi. The event has managed to raise £3-million for the charity to date.
English polo player Malcolm Borwick, who was alongside Harry, earlier tweeted that he was delighted to be back in South Africa.
The royal bad boy has successfully transformed himself into a charming champion of Lesotho’s most vulnerable children. He has ditched his naughty streak for noble duties on his latest visit to Southern Africa.
The 31-year-old has found his passion — and it lies with children, war veterans and endangered animals.
After 10 years of military service ended in June — he did two tours in Afghanistan — Prince Harry returned home with a sense of purpose that would no doubt have made his late mother, Princess Diana, proud.
He partnered with Prince Seeiso, the younger brother of King Letsie III of Lesotho, to honour a pact they made just over 10 years ago.
Back then, the two men forged a friendship in the Lesotho mountains, where they camped overnight with herdboys.
It was there that the two young royals decided to begin a charity that would help Lesotho’s Aids orphans and young herdboys, many of whom do not get an opportunity to go to school.
They co-founded the Sentebale (“forget me not”) charity. It was partly inspired by Princess Diana, who, at the outbreak of the Aids epidemic, used her title to raise awareness.
Prince Harry said: “I can really feel that, by doing this, I can follow in my mother’s footsteps and keep her legacy alive.”
Lesotho has the second-highest HIV infection rate in the world and this inspired the two princes to build the £2-million (about R43-million) Mamohato Children’s Centre — a camp to help educate and support children with HIV and disabilities.
Named after Prince Seeiso’s mother, Queen Mamohato Bereng Seeiso, the centre was built in the foothills of Thaba Bosiu, near Maseru.
The centre’s dining hall is named after Princess Diana.
“Harry loves Lesotho. I think he feels he can relax here and be himself,” said local architect Thabo Mokhesi.
“He even wore the grey blankets and hats that only herdboys wear . . . we won’t even wear those blankets.”
Prince Harry made a moving speech at the opening of the centre this week to guests who included members of the Lesotho royal family and soul singer Joss Stone.
He said that when he travelled through Lesotho he could not believe that so many children had been robbed of their childhoods by poverty and HIV/Aids.
“Although our situations couldn’t have been more different, I felt an overwhelming connection to many of the children I met. They were far younger than me, and of course their situation was a great deal more challenging than my own. Nonetheless, we shared a similar feeling of loss, having a loved one, in my case a parent, snatched away so suddenly.
“I, like them, knew there would always be a gaping hole that could never be filled,” Prince Harry said.
After the ribbons had been cut, the two princes launched into a spontaneous dance, surrounded by children.
For that moment, Prince Harry, shielded from the cameras, could move with wild abandon.
We shared a loss, having a loved one snatched away so suddenly