Prince Harry followed in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, on a trip to a minefield in Angola with the Halo Trust – and now he has spoken out about his heartbreak after the visit
Prince Harry has spoken of his heartbreak for children in a statement issued after a solo trip without Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex made the trip to Angola to visit a minefield 28 years after his mother’s famous visit to the same country. Harry, as a patron of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust, spoke to families in a remote village near Africa’s largest minefield.
He gave children in Cuito Cuanavale advice on avoiding detonating mines, telling them in Portuguese: “Stop, go back and tell your elders.” Following his trip, the official website of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex featured comments from Harry about the visit, which was described as honouring his mother, Princess Diana’s “powerful legacy” and bringing “global attention” to the dangers of landmines.
And after visiting the remote village of Mawano, he said: “As a father to young children, it breaks my heart to see innocent children still living and playing next to minefields.
“All of us have a duty to protect children and future generations from the harms of war, both present and past.” He continued: “I urge all donors to stand with Angola in fighting the job. This is not just about landmines, it’s about healing the last wounds of war and giving future generations the peace they deserve.”
It is estimated that at least 60,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines in Angola since 2008, the Halo Trust said. The trust has cleared more than 120,000 landmines and 100,000 bombs from the country.
However, in the past five years, the devices have killed at least 80 Angolans and more than 1,000 minefields are yet to be cleared. In 1997, months before she died in a car crash, Diana, wearing a protective visor and vest, walked through a minefield being cleared by the Halo Trust.
She strode through a cleared path in a Huambo minefield, and the images of her in body armour and a mask gave the anti-landmine campaign global recognition.
Harry’s trip to Angola came just days after it emerged that top aides for him and his estranged father, King Charles, had met in London – leading many to believe it was the first tentative step in them reconciling after Harry revealed earlier this year that they are no longer on speaking terms.
The Duke of Sussex has levelled a series of accusations against his family, and in his controversial memoir, Spare, said his brother, Prince William, had physically attacked him and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan.
Meredith Maines, Harry’s chief communications officer, and Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan’s UK public relations team, met the King’s communications secretary, Tobyn Andreae, at the Royal Over-Seas League in London last week. The private members’ club is located right by Clarence House, Charles’s London residence.