Prince Harry has embarked on a surprise visit to Angola. While Prince Harry continues his life in the United Kingdom, his wife Meghan Markle remains in Montecito, California, with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. As it happened, the Duke of Sussex has made many personal and official visits to Angola over the years. Now, he’s returned to establish deeper ties with the local communities and help with mine-clearance efforts.
This visit continues a very special history of Prince Harry’s engagement with landmine clearance efforts. In 2010, that included walking along a cleared minefield in Mozambique with the Halo Trust. In 2019, he followed in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, outside Huambo, Angola. Through the process of this journey, we saw how emotionally connected he was to this region.
Prince Harry is met by deminers as he tours a newly cleared minefield in the remote Dirico region – on his most recent trip. He participated in one of the most symbolic acts imaginable when he detonated a landmine. Then, he spent the night camping along the Cuito River. During his day spent in town, he toured the Princess Diana Orthopaedic Centre. There, he talked to some of the region’s most passionate female deminers, dedicated to keeping their communities from being maimed by landmines.
That’s exactly why Prince Harry is visiting—to raise awareness for the Halo Trust. This organization’s commitment to clearing the world of landmines by 2025, in accordance with the promise made by the 1997 Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, makes a statement about the movement. So far, that organization has been able to clear more than 123,000 mines. Most notably, in September of 2024, he gave an impassioned speech at a Halo competition event in New York. He reaffirmed his deep dedication to this flagship initiative.
Though Prince Harry’s humanitarian work is still going strong, in the background, his relationship with other members of the royal family has remained rocky. Since the Sussexes’ explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and the release of Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir in 2023, tensions have escalated. Recent developments suggest a shift. A source indicated that “there’s been no channel of communication open for a long time but there is now, so this could be the start of better times ahead.”
Prince Harry did not bring Meghan on this trip. He had environmental, nuisance and safety concerns that tipped the balance in favor of denial. As he walks through this tricky family dynamic, senior advisers to King Charles and Prince Harry just recently convened in London. Their meeting has sparked much debate over what might still be being discussed behind closed doors.
