Prince Harry, Meghan to visit Malawi
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle are expected to visit Malawi later this year as part of their royal tour of Africa which will also see them visit Angola and South Africa.
According to United Kingdom (UK) tabloid The Mirror, during their stay in Malawi, the two royals are expected to focus on supporting Sentebale, a charity organisation which supports children affected by HIV and Aids.
The organisation, which also has operations in Lesotho and Botswana, was co-founded by Prince Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso in 2006 after being moved by the plight of vulnerable and young people in the country.
According to The Mirror, in Angola the two will continue the work which was started by Harry’s mother, Princess Diana on the need to ban landmines and safely removing the existing ones. This is a mission Diana started shortly before her death by walking through an active landmine area in Angola in 1997.
“This is all about wanting to fulfill his mother’s legacy and showing his wife and baby son the places that have had the most positive effect on him in his life,” reports the newspaper. Harry and Meghan have recently given birth to their first child Archie.
Prince Harry is expected to kick-start his work in Angola by attending a conference on landmine clearance next week. It is said that the presence of landmines and remnants of the civil war still renders large areas of the country unsafe.
The Mirror said when Harry and Meghan come to Africa, they could stay for extended periods as long as six months in over two or three years. It is not yet known if baby Archie, the first bi-racial royal child, will make the trip due to security and travel concerns.
Local social commentator Sam Chiwaka, in an interview, said the planned visit by the two royals will help bring Malawi under the world gaze and it is up to players in the tourism sector to seize the moment and run with it.
He said: “Just the visit itself is a royal seal of approval. It will boost the tourism industry; hence, having an effect on the economy both on short and long-term. The tourism players should take a leaf from what their colleagues in Botswana did when the two spent their first date in the country’s game reserve.”
Chiwaka ruled out the possibility of their preference for Africa as being a result of Meghan’s distant black roots, saying Harry has always had a soft spot for the continent following the footsteps of his mother Princess Diana who also rated Africa highly.
