Prince Harry takes unexpected overseas trip without wife Meghan Markle

The Duke of Sussex has taken a solo trip to Angola in central Africa to follow in his late mother's footsteps.

According to MailOnline, Prince Harry, 40, plans to walk across a field of landmines to highlight the work of The Halo Trust – just like Princess Diana did 28 years ago for the same charity.

However, the Duchess of Sussex has remained in Montecito, California with the couple's two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, after Harry is said to have decided it was too dangerous for his wife to join him.

A source told the newspaper: "The Duke won't let his wife go to England over security concerns, so there was no chance he'd allow her to go to Angola to walk across landmines."

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But Harry's first port of call was an audience with President Lourenço today to discuss the charity's continued demining efforts in Angola. 

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James Cowan, CEO of The Halo Trust, said: "It was an honour to have an audience with His Excellency President Lourenço today alongside Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex to discuss HALO's continued demining efforts in Angola. 

"We thanked him for his extraordinary dedication to and investment in the vision of a mine-free country, and he expressed his intention to continue to support our work with a further significant contract for the next three years.  

"Our partnership is strengthened and renewed, and we are grateful to President Laurenço for his leadership on this critical issue."

© THE HALO TRUST

The Halo Trust is working to fulfil the promise of the 1997 Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty and clear the world of landmines by 2025. To date, the organisation has cleared over 123,000 mines.

Harry has carried out several visits to Angola in recent years. In 2019, he retraced the exact steps his mother took near Huambo.

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The Duke also visited the remote Dirico region, where he toured a newly cleared minefield, detonated a landmine, and spent a night camping by the Cuito River.

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He then visited the town's Princess Diana Orthopaedic Centre, met female deminers, and toured a demining camp in southeastern Angola.

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In September 2024, the father-of-two also travelled to New York for the United Nations Halo event.

Royal reconciliation

The Duke's overseas visit comes amid an alleged peace summit between Prince Harry and the royal family, as senior aides to the King and the Duke were pictured together in London.

Images obtained by the Mail On Sunday showed Meredith Maines, the Duke’s chief communications officer, and Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan's UK public relations team, meeting the King's communications secretary Tobyn Andreae at the Royal Over-Seas League near Clarence House.

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 A source told the paper: "There's a long road ahead, but a channel of communication is now open for the first time in years. There was no formal agenda, just casual drinks. There were things both sides wanted to talk about."

Harry's relationship with his father, Charles, and brother, Prince William, has been strained since the Sussexes' explosive Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021 and Harry's tell-all memoir, released in 2023.

Meanwhile, a source told HELLO!: "There's been no channel of communication open for a long time but there is now, so this could be the start of better times ahead."