Prince Harry's Striking Blue Eyes Sparkle on the Cover of 'Town & Country' Mag

Prince Harry’s personal affairs have commanded major media attention within the last few months, so it’s refreshing to start 2017 with the royal being depicted in a totally different light.

For its February issue, Prince Harry allowed Town & Country to accompany him for a portion of his journey through Malawi, in southeastern Africa, with the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks to rescue 500 elephants.

The prince spent three weeks in Africa this past summer, working to relocate elephants to safer areas and decrease overcrowding. This, in turn, helps prevent starvation and disease among the elephant population.

In the T&C spread, the prince traveled with reporter Klara Glowczewska for six days to bring the elephants to safety and speak about his work with the conservation organization. The prince also spoke at length about his passion for saving endangered species and the fight against poachers in Africa.

“Everyone has a different opinion; every country has a different way of doing things,” he told Glowczewska. “But I do believe that we need a regulatory body so that everyone who owns or manages wildlife is subject to inspection and rated on how well they look after the animals and how the communities benefit. I know I’m going to get criticized for this, but we have to come together. You know what Stevie Wonder said: ‘You need teamwork to make the dream work.’ I use that a lot.”

Within the issue, the royal also shared that his first trip to the continent occurred just after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. “My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags — we were going to Africa to get away from it all,” he said.

After visiting and working on the continent many times in the past, Prince Harry has now found a sense of peace and normalcy there.

“This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world,” he told Glowczewska. “I wish I could spend more time in Africa. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here. To not get recognized, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet, people [dedicated to conservation] with no ulterior motives, no agendas, who would sacrifice everything for the betterment of nature… I talk to them about their jobs, about what they do. And I learn so much.”

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