Meghan makes secret stop at memorial to murdered woman on tour of Africa with Prince Harry

The Duchess of Sussex made a secret, heartfelt stop during her royal tour of Africa with Prince Harry, for a tragedy she has “followed from afar”.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made a secret visit to a memorial for a young South African woman whose rape and murder inspired thousands of people to protest the country’s high rate of sexual violence.

In a quiet, private, stop during the whirlwind royal tour, Meghan tied a ribbon to the memorial at the post office where university student Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, was attacked last month.

The assault has led outraged women to march in the streets in major cities across the country and rally behind an online campaign called #AmINext.

The Duchess managed to make the visit in secret, away from the press pack following the royal couple on their 10-day tour.

The secret visit was revealed in an post to the royals’ Instagram account, calling the death “a critical point in the future of women’s rights in South Africa”. It said the visit was “personally important” to Meghan.

On a regional tour of South Africa the Duchess of Sussex paid tribute at the scene where University of Cape Town student, Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, was raped and murdered in August.

The visit to the memorial was unannounced but Meghan later wrote in an Instagram post that she and Prince Harry had followed the tragic case ‘from afar’ and spoken with Uyinene’s mother.

The Duchess has also spoken with Mrwetyana’s mother, the post said, adding that: “the Duke and Duchess had been following what had happened from afar and were both eager to learn more when they arrived in South Africa.”

More than 100 rapes are reported every day in South Africa, and President Cyril Ramaphosa calls the country “one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman”.

He announced new emergency measures and vowed to be tougher on perpetrators, but some women weary of years of such pronouncements have suggested that South Africa bring back the death penalty for rapists.

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Meghan and Harry are on a 10-day, multi-country tour of Africa. Picture: Matrix

The scope of the problem is well-known. More than 2700 women and more than 1000 children were murdered in South Africa last year, the Government says.

One-in-five women over the age of 18 have faced physical violence from a partner.

Women’s empowerment is one of the many issues that Meghan and Prince Harry are highlighting on their first official tour as a family with their baby, Archie.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, meets with the President of Angola Joao Lourenco and First Lady Ana Dias Lourenco at the presidential palace. Picture: Getty Images

The 10-day, multi-country visit continued on Saturday for Prince Harry with a meeting in Angola with the southern African nation’s president.

The prince on Friday followed in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, whose walk through an active minefield in Angola years ago helped led to a global ban on the deadly weapons.

AP