Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are known to share a love of Botswana, which they visited together at the start of their relationship. Almost a year later it was a place where the couple spent a very romantic holiday together visiting a luxury camp in the heart of the African country wilderness where they camped out under the stars.
Prince Harry has been a regular visitor to Botswana for many years Photo credit: ©rhinoconservationbotswana.com
For Prince Harry, Botswana has proven to be a place he fell in love with soon after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, when his father took him and Prince William on safari to get away from their grief. Prince Harry has since recalled how that first trip turned into a boyhood obsession and how it is a country he feels he can be free to be himself, away from the confines of being a member of royalty.
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Earlier this year, the prince spoke about his love of Botswana – which he regularly visits as part of his role as patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana - saying: “I am incredibly fortunate to be able to call it my second home.”
Meghan's engagement ring has a stone from Botswana in it
After just two dates on consecutive days in London in July last year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took what the prince characterized in their official engagement interview as a “huge leap”—they went on vacation together to Botswana. Although Prince Harry had taken past girlfriends to the country, it proved to be a turning point in his life.
The pair were again spotted in Botswana in August where they went on safari to celebrate the 36th birthday of Meghan – who visited Rwanda last year in her role as a World Vision Global Ambassador.
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The Royal Family has a deep connection to Africa, with Prince William proposing to the Duchess of Cambridge in Kenya, which he later revealed was because the continent “completely settles me down”.
This seems to ring true with Prince Harry, who has many friends in Botswana that see him as a human being and not a “walking status symbol”. Such is his love for the country, Prince Harry custom-made an engagement ring for his future wife that included a stone from Botswana.
Although an obvious choice for the couple to honeymoon, Botswana or perhaps another African country may prove to be on the cards.