Prince Harry Takes Heartwarming Solo Trip to Africa for Opening of New School in Lesotho

Phil Boucher
Updated

Prince Harry has returned to the place he calls his “second home”: Africa.

The recently married royal, 33, opened a school and a house in Pitseng, Lesotho, on Sunday, on behalf of the Sentebale charity he co-founded with his friend, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho — the younger brother of King Letsie III of Lesotho — in 2006.

“The Duke of Sussex has donated a home in Pitseng, Kingdom of Lesotho,” Princess Sukhothai Seeiso posted on Instagram alongside an image of the prince playing with a local child in Lesotho. “Lord bless the Duke for his warm heart and giving soul to the nation of the Basotho people.”

My village. My people. My heart. The village that raised a hustler. To what do we owe the honour of your visit? Nami angazi kodwa siyabonga BABA. Le uena Ntate Harry, Molimo ao hlohonolofatse, ao boloke ebile ao qobe marabeng a satane. So humbled! Words cannot and will not express this insurmountable joy that a brother is feeling. Basotho sechaba sa Thesele, sa Moshoeshoe Molimo o araba thapelo tsa rona. To the #Duke of #Sussex thank you #PrinceHarry

A post shared by Teboho Letsoha (@tab_juice) on Jun 24, 2018 at 1:25am PDT

Local Teboho Letsoha wrote, “My village. My people. My heart.”

“So humbled! Words cannot and will not express this insurmountable joy that a brother is feeling,” he continued. “To the #Duke of #Sussex thank you #PrinceHarry.”

Prince Harry flew first class on a commercial flight to Joahannesburg on Thursday, two days after accompanying new wife Meghan Markle on her Royal Ascot debut alongside Queen Elizabeth, 92.

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Meghan, 36, did not travel with her husband on the low-key Africa trip, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace confirmed to PEOPLE.

“The Duke was on a private visit to see the work of Sentebale at a camp for vulnerable children and young people, as well as other projects funded by the charity,” said the spokesperson. “During his private working visit to Sentebale in Lesotho, The Duke visited one of Sentebale’s community-led partners for the opening of a new dining hall. This was funded by the charity and will provide a space for children to eat together and have an indoor space to play.”

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Africa holds a special place in Prince Harry’s heart. The royal has travelled extensively across the continent since he was a young boy and previously described it as the one place he feels “more like myself than anywhere in the world.” Along with his work for Sentebale — which means “forget me not” in the Sesotho — he is patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana.

It was also in Africa that Harry and Meghan enjoyed a luxury safari break just four weeks after their first date, returning a few months later for her birthday.

Speaking to the BBC in their first joint interview, Harry said, “I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana. We camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic.”

Meghan’s engagement ring — crafted by royal jewelers Cleave and Company — also includes a diamond from Botswana.