Prince Harry's Emotional Speech About Retracing Diana's Steps in Angola is Heartbreaking — & We Have Video

Louisa Ballhaus

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Prince Harry retraced his mother Princess Diana’s steps by walking through a minefield in Angola on Friday and the internet exploded with comparison photos of the royal prince and his late mother in the same area. Apparently, the similarities are not lost on the Duke of Sussex: Harry posted an emotional speech about Diana to Instagram on Friday, talking about how amazing it was to visit the same place 22 years after his mother did, and how in awe he is of the effect of his mother’s work. As always, it’s bittersweet: wonderful to see how much he loves and honors his mother, and sad to think how little time they had together.

The video posted to the Sussex Royals account shows various clips from their time in Angola, including a few moments where Harry addressed the camera directly. “It’s incredibly emotional to be able to follow in the footsteps of my mother,” the Duke confided. “It’s also crazy to think that, 20 years ago, if she hadn’t done what she did, that maybe this would still be a minefield. To be able to see this as a thriving community is amazing.”

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When Harry says that he’s following in his mother’s footsteps, by the way, he’s being literal. Here’s a photo to show you what we mean.

The video’s caption shared more information about Diana’s famous 1997 trip: “Princess Diana brought global attention to the issue of landmines and helped change the future for this community in Huambo, and many more like it,” the caption explained. “This afternoon, 22 years later, The Duke was able to walk the same path, but now rather than walking amongst mines, he was able to walk among a bustling community with schools, colleges and small businesses.”

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“It’s incredibly emotional to follow in the footsteps of my mother… If 20 years ago she hadn’t done what she did, this would still be a minefield. To see this as a thriving community is amazing.” – The Duke of Sussex Above, some words from The Duke of Sussex as he spoke candidly today about his experience retracing his mother’s visit to Angola in 1997. He was able to see firsthand more of the legacy she left on the world. Princess Diana brought global attention to the issue of landmines and helped change the future for this community in Huambo, and many more like it. This afternoon, 22 years later, The Duke was able to walk the same path, but now rather than walking amongst mines, he was able to walk among a bustling community with schools, colleges and small businesses. Earlier today The Duke joined @thehalotrust to once again highlight the issue of landmines that still threatens more than 60 million people worldwide. #RoyalVisitAngola Video © SussexRoyal

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Sep 27, 2019 at 11:24am PDT

Diana has been a frequent topic of discussion throughout Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal tour of Africa, whether they’re retracing the late Princess’s steps, or people are noticing how much 4-month-old Archie resembles 4-month-old Harry on a royal tour of Scotland. But it can be hard to separate our cultural fascination with Diana from her actual effect on the royal family today, so it’s always nice to hear it from Harry himself. Yes, he’s thinking of Diana on this tour — maybe later this week, he’ll address whether that matching hat on Archie was a conscious decision too.

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