In fall 2019, a few months before the couple announced their royal exit, the two traveled to South Africa with Archie, then four months old, for what marked on their first official overseas family trip and the then-infant’s first royal tour. At the time, Harry also made solo visits to Botswana, Malawi and Angola, where he visited another de-mining field that brought to mind his mother’s famous 1997 visit.
While in the South African city of Johannesburg, Harry spoke about how visiting Africa over the years had helped him come to terms with the death of his mother. Harry spoke about how Africa held him close, per Reuters. “Eversince I arrived on this continent in a young man trying to cope something that I cannot possibly explain, Africa has held my hand in an embrace I will never forget,” he said.
The duke continued, “I always feel, wherever I am on this continent, that the community around me provides a life that is enriching, and is rooted in the simplest things—connection, connections with others and the natural environment. And as I raise my own son, I want to make sure that what I’ve learned here—the value of the natural world, the value of community and friendship—is something that I can pass on to him.”
(CelebHomes is part of the NBCUniversal Family.)