Together with Meghan Markle (37) Prince Harry (40) forms a true power couple. Although the two, according to the British, can do little good, their relationship only seems to be getting stronger. The Duke of Sussex knew that the former ‘Suits’ actress was his soul mate during one of their trips to the African continent, the royal said in a speech he gave to the United Nations.
“Africa is where I felt closest to my mother and sought comfort after she died”
“Since I first visited Africa at the age of 13, I have always found hope in the continent,” Harry said Monday at a United Nations event celebrating Nelson Mandela Day in New York. He called the continent his ‘salvation’ where he ‘found peace and healing time and again’. “It’s where I felt closest to my mother and sought comfort after she died,” the prince said. “And where I knew I had found a soul mate in my wife.”
The couple first traveled to Botswana shortly after the two began dating in July 2016 and returned the following year to celebrate Meghan’s 36th birthday. Harry and Meghan also visited Africa after their marriage.
In his speech, the prince also mentioned a photo of Princess Diana and Mandela, taken in 1997, which hangs on his wall “and will be in his heart forever.” The special memory was given to him by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “When I first looked at the photo, I immediately noticed the joy on my mother’s face. The playfulness – cheeky even,” said Harry. “The sheer joy of being in communion with another soul so devoted to serving humanity.”
On Nelson Mandela Day, which is the birthday of the anti-apartheid fighter who died in 2013, people are called upon to help one another and thus work for world peace. Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and his parents Charles and Diana have met Mandela several times. The prince did have a meeting with his widow Graça Machel-Mandela in 2018.