Harry and Meghan in Africa: Day one details
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have embarked on their first official overseas tour with four-month-old son Archie, arriving in Cape Town on a British Airways commercial flight to begin the 10-day tour of parts of southern Africa.
The tour will run until Wednesday, October 2nd, with the family traveling throughout South Africa, specifically Cape Town and Johannesburg. However, Prince Harry will travel alone to Botswana, Malawi and Angola.
During the tour, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will meet with many luminaries, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Gra?a Machel, widow of the late President Mandela, President Louren?o of Angola, President Peter Mutharika of Malawi and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
They will also meet influential women in South Africa, likely to include some public figures and hundreds of members of the public. Evening receptions are expected to include some famous local guests.
In fact, at their first stop, in Nyanga township, Meghan praised a center that supports children and female empowerment, the BBC reports.
Meghan told the crowds: "I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color and as your sister. The work that's being done here is to keep women and children safer, which is needed now more than ever, this is an issue which has been at the forefront of people's minds here in South Africa and of course across the globe particularly over this past month.
She continued, "Please know that my husband and I have been closely following what you've been experiencing here, as best as we can from afar."
The couple met with staff at the Justice Desk in Nyanga, an NGO supported by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust.
For the engagement, the Duchess wore a sustainable wrap dress by designer Maya Miko.
For their next stop, the couple is headed to District Six, a former inner-city mixed-race neighborhood where freed slaves, migrants, workers and merchants lived alongside each other for decades.
In 1966, the government declared it a whites-only area and more than 60,000 residents were forcibly removed and relocated to the Cape Flats township. The couple toured the District Six Museum.
The Duchess changed into an eye-catching cornflower blue dress, which some royal fans may recognize. Meghan wore the same Veronica Beard shirt dress during her visit to Tonga last year.
Where’s baby Archie? He’s laying low, probably because he’s only five months old.
Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is expected to make an appearance at some point, though not upon arrival in South Africa. He was photographed en route to the continent, and eagle-eyed fans noticed the baby was sporting a hat bearing a striking resemblance to the one Princess Diana had on Harry’s head when he was a baby.
Royal sources have said that the Duke and Duchess hope to include their son in their travel plans, but like most parents of babies, will make relatively last-minute decisions based on how he’s doing in unfamiliar surroundings.
Over the next few days, the couple will visit Monwabisi Beach, the Bo Kaap area, a South African Heritage Protection Site, join a reception at the British High Commissioner’s Residence and meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife at their legacy foundation.
The couple will then split, with Prince Harry heading to Botswana, while the Duchess and Archie stay in South Africa. She plans to visit the Woodstock Exchange to meet female entrepreneurs and investors working in technology in order to “highlight the benefits of networking between aspiring female entrepreneurs and successful female role models.”
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