Prince Harry visited Angola last week to see the work of Scots landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust.
Prince Harry walks through a minefield during a visit to see the work of Scots landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust(Image: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Prince Harry’s recent solo trip to Africa has led to him issuing a statement about his heartbreak on his official website.
The Duke of Sussex jetted to Angola last week to visit a minefield, following in the footsteps of his mother Princess Diana, who made her own famous visit to the previously wartorn state 28 tears ago.
Harry is not patron of Scots landmine clearance charity The Halo Trust, like Diana, and has spoken out about the challenges faced by Angolan youngsters living near to the largest minefield in Africa.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s official site has been updated to include his comments about the visit to the remote villages of Cuito Cuanavale and Mawano. Harry said: “As a father to young children, it breaks my heart to see innocent children still living and playing next to minefields.
Prince Harry visited Africa’s largest minefield 28 years after his mother campaigned against landmines in the country in January 1997(Image: HALO Trust/AFP via Getty Images)
“All of us have a duty to protect children and future generations from the harms of war, both present and past.”
He went on: “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.”
Harry described his visit as honouring his mother’s “powerful legacy” and for her work which brought “global attention” to landmine sites and the fatal challenges they posed to people.
The Mirror reports an estimated 60,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines in Angola since 2008. The Halo Trust has stated it has cleared more than 120,000 landmines and 100,000 bombs from the country but in the past five years, the devices have killed at least 80 Angolans and more than 1,000 active minefields remain.
Diana was filmed in 1997, in footage that would become famous across the globe, as she walked through a minefield being cleared by the trust in the country, wearing a visor and vest for protection. Just months later, she would die in a car crash in Paris.
The Mirror reports Harry’s solo jaunt to Africa came days after it was revealed that top aides for him and his father the King have met in London, with rumours now swirling that it was the first steps in a reconciliation between the pair.
Harry claimed in a BBC interview earlier this year that he was no longer on speaking terms with the monarch following a raft of high profile allegations against the Royal Family.
In his 2023 memoir Spare, he alleged that he’d been physically attacked by brother William, that the King was jealous of Meghan, and that he put his own interests above Harry’s.
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