prince harry huambo© Photo: PA

Emotional Prince Harry retraces Princess Diana's steps as he visits former Huambo minefield

The Duke of Sussex looked visibly moved

Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
September 27, 2019

The Duke of Sussex made a poignant visit to the street in Angola that Princess Diana was photographed walking through in 1997 – which was once a dangerous minefield. Dressed casually in a HALO Trust shirt and black trousers, Prince Harry, 35, looked visibly moved as he retraced his mother's steps in Huambo.

WATCH: Harry retraces Diana's steps in Huambo

He got to see the significant development that has taken place in the area in over the past 22 years. What once was a field littered with red warning signs is now a busy, thriving community with schools, shops and houses.

READ: Prince Harry follows in Princess Diana's footsteps at Angolan landmine

© Photo: PA

Prince Harry sits alone beneath the Diana Tree in Huambo

Harry said: "It has been quite emotional retracing my mother's steps twenty-two years on and to see the transformation that has taken place from an unsafe and desolate area into a vibrant community of local businesses and colleges."

The Duke added: "Twenty-two years after my mother visited Angola, there are still more than 1,000 minefields in this beautiful country that remain to be cleared. I wonder if she was still alive whether that would still be the case, I'm pretty sure she would have seen it through."

Harry also met with representatives from the three de-mining organisations working in Angola under the UKAID-funded Global Mine Action Programme funding: the HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group, and Norwegian People’s Aid.

MORE: Prince Harry says Africa was his escape after Princess Diana's death

© Photo: PA

Princess Diana walked through the minefield in 1997

Earlier today, Harry followed in his mother's footsteps as he visited a partially cleared minefield outside Dirico, where he remotely detonated a mine. The Duke donned body armour and a protective visor for the engagement, which was to highlight the ongoing threat of the munitions in Angola, the same nation Diana visited in 1997 to urge the world to ban the weapons.

Keen to continue his mother's work, during a speech he said: "Landmines are an unhealed scar of war. By clearing the landmines, we can help this community find peace, and with peace comes opportunity."

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