As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle enter the second phase of their Africa tour, they continue on a long tradition of Royal Family members visiting the continent.
Africa has been the location of major milestones in the lives of the Windsors. It's where Princess Elizabeth found out she was to become Queen, and it's where Princess Diana worked on some of her most significant charitable endeavours - including her famous landmine walk, which her son Prince Harry has paid tribute to on a visit to Angola today.
1952, Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen in Kenya
On February 6, 1952, a then-Princess Elizabeth was staying in Kenya her husband Prince Philip. During a visit to Treetops Hotel, Princess Elizabeth was told by her husband that her father King George VI had passed away in his sleep from a coronary thrombosis.
At the time, Elizabeth was just 25 years old and cancelled the rest of her royal tour so she could return home as soon as possible.
British hunter Jim Corbett recounted the significant moment in a log book at Treetops. Corbett wrote, “For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen."
It took a while for news of her father’s death to reach her. Reporter Frank Gillard said that on the morning before Elizabeth discovered the news, she had “sat at breakfast, talking about her father, and proudly describing how bravely he'd stood up to his illness, how well he'd recovered - sitting there in her yellow bush shirt and brown slacks - even at that moment her father was lying dead and she had succeeded to his vast responsibilities.”
Princess Elizabeth was formally announced as the Queen of England two days later at St James’s Palace in London.
1997, Princess Diana walks across a minefield in Angola
As an international outrage over the use of anti-personnel landmines raged in the 1990s, Princess Diana was photographed dressed in protective gear as she walked across a minefield.
The Princess, who had been divorced from Prince Charles for a year at that point, visited Huambo, Angola on behalf of the Red Cross and worked closely with anti-landmine charity HALO Trust over her trip.
Pictures of the Princess walking across the field, sitting with landmine survivors and speaking with members of HALO Trust was considered a landmark moment.
Diana's press secretary at the time, Dickie Arbiter, told Yahoo, “With that one iconic image of her walking through that field, Diana set everyone thinking about the issue of landmines. It was so typical of her. She acted on instinct... She knew what she was doing.”
As Diana spoke out against the use of landmines, the UK government had not yet come to a decision on banning them. Junior Defence Minister Earl Howe said at the time she was a “loose cannon” and ill-informed on the issue.
Tory member Peter Viggers added, “The government's policy on this has been an extremely careful one and the statements made by the Princess of Wales have not been in line with that policy.”
Princess Diana would go on to speak openly about the ban of landmines and wrote to the British Red Cross, saying, “If my visit has contributed in any way at all in highlighting this terrible issue, then my deepest wish will have been fulfilled.”
Ralph Legg of HALO Trust said, “Diana’s visit is something that people in Huambo still talk about today. For the people that were here at that time, which was obviously still a time of conflict, it led to a feeling of acknowledgement, and that their plight was recognized around the world.”
Princess Diana also met with the late Nelson Mandela during her trip. The minefield that Princess Diana visited no longer exists. Three months after she died, 122 governments signed the Ottawa Treaty which “prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines”. Prince Harry has now continued her work on his royal tour.
1995, Queen Elizabeth’s state visit and meeting with Nelson Mandela
Although Queen Elizabeth had previously met the late Nelson Mandela, there was a particularly significant meeting with the South African leader in Cape Town in 1995. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the Express that the visit will go down as “one of the highlights of her reign” and the pair were known to enjoy a “warm friendship” according to Mandela’s personal assistant Zelda la Grange.
At a lunch in 1996, Mandela is said to have described Queen Elizabeth as a “gracious lady” and the Queen in kind responded saying he was a “wonderful man”.
In fact, La Grange recounted that they became so close that Mandela was one of the few people permitted to call the Queen by her first name.
“‘Oh Elizabeth,’ he would say when he greeted her, and she would respond: 'Hello, Nelson.’I think he was one of the very few people who called her by her first name and she seemed to be amused by it,” La Grange wrote.
Mandela also managed to convince ER to get up and dance with him onstage at a Royal Albert Hall event in 1996.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku recalled via Cape Times that one guest said, “Good heavens, the queen is dancing!”
It was also previously reported that in 1991 Queen Elizabeth had stood up for Mandela when he was shut out of attending a state banquet.
Anyaoku recalled that Mandela had been “expecting to come to the Queen’s banquet, which is strictly for heads of government” - which Mandela was not at the time.
Anyaoku said, “I had to decide what advice to give the Queen, who, at that point, had not even met Mandela. When we told her what the situation was, she immediately said: ‘Let’s have him.’”
“She had absolutely no hesitation. I thought it was a remarkable piece of judgment,” Anyaoku said.
After Mandela’s death in 2013, Buckingham Palace released a statement that revealed Queen Elizabeth was “deeply saddened to learn of the death of Nelson Mandela last night”. It continued, “He worked tirelessly for the good of his country, and his legacy is the peaceful South Africa we see today. Her Majesty remembers with great warmth her meetings with Mr. Mandela and sends her sincere condolences to his family and the people of South Africa at this very sad time.”
1997, Prince Charles takes Prince Harry to Botswana after Princess Diana’s death
Prince Harry has spoken openly about his love of Africa and revealed on tour that he has been visiting Botswana specifically for fifteen years.
The Prince, who has been seen working with outreach programmes all over the continent, had one of his most memorable moments there shortly after Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident in August, 1997.
Prince Harry joined Prince Charles on tour in October the same year and met the Spice Girls alongside his father. A BBC correspondent said at the time that the trip showed how Princess Diana’s “influence lives on” and Prince Harry spoke about the profound impact the tour had on him.
He said, “I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me we were going to Africa to get away from it all. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here.”
At the Chobe Forest Tree reserve earlier this week, Harry said, “I came here in 1997 or 1998 straight after my mum died, so it was a nice place to get away from it all. But now I feel deeply connected to this place and to Africa.”
2004, Prince Harry is inspired to launch Sentebale with Prince Seeiso in Lesotho
On his gap year Prince Harry spent eight weeks in the Kingdom of Lesotho. He was guided around the country by Prince Seeiso. The country, which has the “second highest HIV prevalence in the world” according to Avert, saw Seeiso take the British royal to meet AIDS orphans as well as other disadvantaged children.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the woman who arranged Prince Harry’s trip Malineo Motsephe said, “We don’t call him Harry; here he is known as Mohale, which means brave man or warrior. He dared to come here and live with us and his concern and empathy for the disadvantaged children of our country has made a difference and will continue to make a difference.”
Following his trip, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso launched Sentebale; which is named after the Sesotho word for ‘forget-me-not’ in memory of both Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso’s late mothers.
The charity holds an annual polo match to raise funds and money goes to supporting children and young people whose lives have been affected by HIV in both Lesotho and Botswana.
Prince Seeiso calls Prince Harry “H” and attended his wedding to Meghan Markle. Bahlakoana Manyanye, Sentebale’s deputy country director, said, “Harry is part of us – indirectly he is a Basotho [one of Lesotho’s people]. Traditionally, when a child is born into a family they will slaughter a sheep and give that child a name. Hopefully Prince Seeiso will soon do that for his honorary younger brother Mohale.”
According to a recent Charity Commission return, in the past year Sentebale has spent over £3 million on “charitable activities”.
2010, Prince William proposes to Kate Middleton in Kenya
After dating for nearly a decade, Prince William got down on one knee and proposed to Kate Middleton in Kenya. The royal, who proposed with his mother Princess Diana’s sapphire ring, revealed in a television interview that it had taken him a while to muster up the courage.
He said, “I had been carrying [the ring] around with me in my rucksack for about three weeks before that.”
Although he explained that he had “been planning it for a while”, it wasn’t until they reportedly arrived at the luxury Rutundu lodge on Mount Kenya that he decided to propose. He said, “As any guy out there will know it takes a certain amount of motivation to get yourself going. I was planning it and then it just really felt right out in Africa... It was beautiful at the time. I had done a little bit of planning to show my romantic side.”
Middleton called the proposal “very romantic” and they were married the following year.
2016, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Botswana trip
Botswana is a place not just close to Prince Harry’s heart, but also to Meghan Markle’s. According to Cosmopolitan, Prince Harry first took the former Suits actress there in July 2016 early on into their relationship.
Prince Harry said in an engagement interview, “I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana. We camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.”
The country has since played a big role in their love story, with Prince Harry proposing to Meghan Markle with an engagement ring that features a diamond from Botswana. They also returned there two years ago and shared post on their official Instagram account, which revealed the pair had volunteered with Elephants Without Borders on World Elephant Day.
2019, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Africa tour
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their son Archie are currently in Africa for a royal tour, where Prince Harry is continuing on his mother's charitable legacy. With Harry set to visit the site of her iconic minefield photograph and expand his Sentebale work, a few memorable moments have already taken place - including human rights activist Desmond Tutu meeting their son Archie.
Another memorable moment was when Meghan Markle, who is biracial, attended a workshop for the Mbokodo Girls’ Empowerment Program and told those involved, “May I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the Royal Family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour and as your sister.”
