Prince Harry Says Visiting Botswana Helped Him Deal With the Loss of His Mother

Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images
Photo credit: Pool/Samir Hussein - Getty Images

From Town & Country

This morning, Prince Harry opened up about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and shared how visiting Botswana shortly after she passed away helped him to deal with that loss.

"15 years I've been coming here, it's a sense of escapism, a real sense of purpose," he told reporters.

"I have some of my closest friends here and I came here in 1997 or 1998 straight after my mum died, so it was a nice place to get away from it all."

Those visits made a lasting impression on the Prince. "Now I feel deeply connected to this place and to Africa," he said.

The Duke of Sussex also spoke about the climate change "emergency," calling out youth activist Greta Thunberg by name.

"This last week, led by Greta, the world's children are striking. There's an emergency. It's a race against time, and one in which we are losing," he said. "There's no excuse for not knowing that."

He also had strong words for those who deny scientific fact, as it relates to global warming.

"I think the most troubling part is that I don’t think there is anybody in the world that can deny science, undeniable science and facts. Science and facts that have been around for 30, maybe 40 years, and is only getting stronger and stronger," he said.

“No one can deny science, otherwise we live in a very troubling world.”

Harry is spending just one jam-packed day in Botswana, where he will visit the Chobe Forest Tree reserve, see a project run by Sentebale, a charity he co-founded with Lesotho's Prince Seesio to help children affected by HIV and AIDS, and finally, he'll dedicate a part of the Chobe National Park to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy. Then, he'll head to Angola to further his mother's legacy in the fight to eradicate landmines.

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