I haven’t seen many people remarking on this, but Prince Harry’s movements in New York last week were almost entirely undercover. Beyond his meetings, Clinton Global Initiative speech and various charitable outings, there were no sightings of Harry out to lunch or getting pap’d outside of a hotel. He was moving around like a shark. Good for him. There was one “sighting” of him though – on Wednesday, he made an hour-long stop at East Side Ink, a tattoo parlor in the Lower East Side. He had plain-clothes NYPD officers guarding him, alongside his own private security. Did he get a tattoo for his 40th? And if that was the only non-business sighting of Harry, he and his security did a great job this trip. I hope they do a good job for his next trips: first London, then Lesotho and South Africa.
Prince Harry is having a busy autumn. Fresh off the Duke’s New York City trip, Sentebale announced that Harry will be visiting Lesotho and South Africa in early October. It will mark his first return to the region since his and Meghan Markle’s visit in 2019, and he will be joined by Sentebale co-founding patron Prince Seesio.
“It fills me, the team, and our wider community with joy to welcome Prince Harry or Mohale as we affectionately refer to him by his Sesotho royal name which means ‘warrior,’” Prince Seeiso said. “Now more than ever, as we look to the challenges of our young generation here in Lesotho, the collective energy of both local and international individuals and organizations who see the potential in these youth, is embraced. We know that there are bright futures at stake, and we continue to approach our work with the vision that all children can be empowered, healthy and resilient through sustainable solutions that can ultimately be locally driven.”
Prince Harry also shared a statement about the visit, noting Sentebale’s “profound understanding of local youth” in Lesotho and Botswana, specifically “their passions, their concerns, and their extraordinary creativity.”
“These young adults are eager and capable of driving meaningful change, yet significant barriers still stand in their way. As we head towards our 20th anniversary, our ambition has grown, giving us the confidence to bring our skills and experience in designing solutions with young people, and to leveraging our convening power to engage with leading regional players and global funders so we can add Sentebale’s voice to addressing the challenges faced by the next generation in Southern Africa,” he said.
On the trip, the group (which includes corporate foundations and philanthropists) will head to Lesotho “to witness Sentebale’s programs at work.” In Lesotho, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso will meet with local leaders and youth advocates. After, they will go to Johannesburg, South Africa for working sessions with “leading Southern Africa-based business leaders, foundations and organizations already active in the youth sector.” Per Sentebale, “these sessions will explore collaborative strategies to deploy expertise and innovative capital to reduce the digital divide and ensure youth access to healthcare, education, entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities.”
While this has absolutely been in the works for a while, it amuses me to think that Harry attended that UN meeting about Lesotho, where he was seen embracing Lesotho’s king and queen, and within a matter of days, this trip was announced. It’s giving “you need to come and visit us, we miss you!” He hasn’t been in Lesotho in six years, going from other reports. But remember, Harry led a congressional delegation through several African countries back in 2022. It’s possible Harry has visited Lesotho more recently and it just hasn’t been publicized, I’m just saying.
Prince Harry made a surprise stop at a star-studded tattoo shop in NYC, hanging out for over an hour. pic.twitter.com/Z09YqUnRlq
— Page Six (@PageSix) September 27, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.