On top of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's visit to South Africa, the trio will head to Malawi, Angola and Botswana, the country said to be Harry and Meghan’s favourite place and where they first fell in love (Harry even used diamonds sourced from Botswana for Meghan's engagement ring).
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Confirming the impending trip on their official social media accounts, the royals wrote, "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are excited to announce that they have been asked to carry out a tour to Southern Africa this autumn.”
“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have requested a visit to South Africa 🇿🇦 as well as The Duke carrying out visits to Malawi 🇲🇼 and Angola 🇦🇴. His Royal Highness will also do a short working visit to Botswana 🇧🇼 on route to the other countries,” it continued.
"The Duke and Duchess are really looking forward to meeting so many of you on the ground and continuing to raise awareness of the high impact work local communities are doing across the commonwealth and beyond. This will be their first official tour as a family!"
This isn’t the first we’ve heard of the plans to visit Africa, The Sunday Times reported on the tour, which is set to focus on youth empowerment, education and conservation, back in April and there were even rumours the royals were planning to permanently move their family to the continent.
Despite Meghan being currently on maternity leave - and remaining so for the next few months, likely until the tour - the mother-of-one has reportedly been quietly preparing for her and Harry's Africa trip. While Meghan is focused on her son, she is also incredibly “passionate about her humanitarian work,” a friend told ELLE US a few weeks ago.
Africa has always held a special place in the royal family's heart, specifically Prince William and Prince Harry, who follow in their mother, Princess Diana’s, footsteps in wanting to spend ample time there. When Harry met Meghan, the pair visited Botswana, where they travelled again to celebrate Meghan’s 36th birthday in 2017.
“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,” Harry told the BBC after their engagement. “So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to know each other.”
Autumn falls between Monday, September 23 and Sunday, December 22 in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it could be less than three months before the Sussex’s take off and the baby photos start rolling in. Bring it on.
WATCH: Prince Harry and Meghan share a glimpse of baby Archie's face
This article originally appeared on marie claire Australia
