Prince Harry's adventure to South Pole delayed due to bad weather


November 21, 2013

Prince Harry's flight to Antarctica has been delayed until Friday due to poor weather conditions.

The 29-year-old royal, who is participating in a gruelling trek to the South Pole, landed in Cape Town on Monday for a brief stop-over before beginning the 200-mile challenge.

© Photo: Getty Images

Harry and the other race participants were due to fly out to Novo Airbase on Tuesday, located at the edge of the Antarctic continent, but were delayed because of strong winds preventing planes to land in the icy region.

Kensington Palace has just confirmed that the teams will not set off until Friday.

As patron of the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge, Harry will trek on behalf of the charity as part of Team Glenfiddich.

The adventurous royal will join his teammates – four injured service personnel representing Britain – in competing against Team US, which includes True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård, and the Commonwealth Team, which includes The Wire's Dominic West.

© Photo: Getty Images

Facing strong winds and temperatures as low as -45°C, the teams will trek for around 10 miles per day while pulling heavy sledges.

The teams aim to set off on 29 November, and reach the South Pole around 17 December.

This will not be the first time Harry has taken part in a Walking With The Wounded trek. The youthful royal went to the North Pole in 2011 for five days and was also patron of the Everest Expedition in 2012.

Upon arriving at Novo Airbase, Harry and the other participants will acclimatise to the altitude and the freezing temperatures. They will then be flown 87°C south to begin the race.

While waiting to fly to Antarctica, the groups have been busy training, hiking up Table Mountain and around Cape Town.

Sign up to HELLO! Daily for all the latest and best royal coverage

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Royalty

See more