British royal, 1st Official Family Visit For Prince Harry and His wife Meghan To South Africa

Shortly before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and baby Archie left the UK for their Africa royal tour, Harry wrote on their Instagram account that Africa “has been a second home to me”and,< I can’t wait to introduce my wife and son to South Africa! >

He’s been captivated by its land, people and wildlife for over 20 years and it’s where he goes at both happy and dreadful times. I remember chatting to him at Kensington Palace a while back, when Meghan was around but they were not engaged. He told me that he’d been so fed up with press intrusion and living in a “goldfish bowl” that he had thought of withdrawing from Royal Family entirely and moving to Africa.

Meghan wins fans after message for South Africa’s women

The Duchess of Sussex’s comments on South Africa’s ongoing gender-based violence crisis have been well received by many women and girls here in Cape Town.

Meghan told a crowd at Nyanga township yesterday: "My husband and I have been closely following what you’ve been experiencing here ... now that we are with you, we are eager to learn and see first-hand .....the vital work that you’re doing, and that everything that is being done.... is making the great change that you not only need, but that you deserve.”

She added: "While I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that ... I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour and as your sister. I am here with you and I am here FOR you.”

Samantha Mueller, 19, is here with her mom Cybil, to welcome the Duchess to Cape Town. She told CNN Meghan has been her “role model since I was in primary school.”

Mueller said Meghan’s humanitarian work was important and that’s why she had come to Bo-Kaap with her sign.

For the love of Africa

Prince Harry has never made a secret of his love for Africa and the bond seems to get stronger as the years go by.

The highlight of their stay in Cape Town will be a meeting on Wednesday with the Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, one of the leading figures in the fight against apartheid and close friend of the first black South African President Nelson Mandela.

Starting Thursday, the Prince will continue his solo tour in Botswana, Angola and Malawi, while his wife will stay with Archie in South Africa for further engagements.

In Botswana, home to a third of the continent’s wild elephants, Harry will focus on wildlife protection, a subject close to his heart.

The country, renowned for its luxury safaris, is also a place dear to the young couple. In 2016, “I succeeded in persuading (Meghan) to come and join me in Botswana. And we camped under the stars,” Harry told the BBC during the official engagement ceremony.

The Prince will then travel to Angola where he will follow in the footsteps of his mother Diana, who had been involved in anti-personnel mines during a trip to Angola in 1997, a few months before his death in a car accident in Paris.

Protecting nature is "fundamental to our survival" and should not be dismissed as "hippy", the Duke of Sussex has said.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Prince Harry said humanity needs to beat "greed, apathy and selfishness" to guarantee its survival in the world.

He said it is essential to "co-exist", and learn from mistakes "to protect the world's most valuable assets".

It comes as he prepares to visit a conservation project in Malawi.

On his visit to the Liwonde National Park, the duke is expected to pay tribute to Matthew Talbot a British soldier killed by an elephant earlier this year while working as a counter-poaching operator.