Prince Harry walks through Angola minefield, echoing Diana

Body armour-wearing Prince Harry retraces Princess Diana’s iconic walk through an active minefield during the Sussexes’ African tour.

Prince Harry walks through a mine field in Dirico, Angola, during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust on day five of the royal tour of Africa. Picture: Getty

Twenty-two years on and the footsteps are eerily similar. Here is Prince Harry, dressed in protective clothing, walking the same precarious path in Angola as his mother, Princess Diana, did in 1997.

She famously walked through a cleared landmine field at Huambo, which is now a bustling village, at the time calling for a global ban on land mines so that the world might be a safer place for this generation’s grandchildren.

Princess Diana, wearing a bombproof visor, visits a mine field in Huambo, in Angola on January 15, 1997 Picture: AP

Her meeting with victims of the mines galvanised work to clear mined areas.

On Friday her son, the Duke of Sussex, did the same. As well as walking through a former artillery base near Dirico that was heavily mined by anti-government forces, he detonated a controlled ­explo­sion of a landmine found earlier.

“Landmines are an unhealed scar of war,” Harry said. “By clearing the landmines, we can help this community find peace, and with peace comes opportunity.

“Additionally, we can protect the diverse and unique wildlife that relies on the beautiful Kuito river that I slept beside last night.

Prince Harry watches a controlled explosion in the partially cleared mine field.

‘That river and those wildlife are natural assets and if looked after, will bring you unlimited ­opportunities in the conservation-led economy.’’

He called for an international effort to extend clearing the mines beyond the national park to safeguard Africa’s natural landscape.

In a statement, Harry said he was humbled to visit a place and a community so special to his mother and to recognise her tireless mission as an advocate for all those she felt needed her voice the most, even if the issue was not universally popular.

Harry is in Africa on an eight-day African tour with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex and their four-month-old son, Archie. His last duty will be to fly to Liwonde ­Nat­ional Park to pay tribute to Coldstream guardsman Mathew Talbot, who died on an anti-poaching patrol.

Princess Diana uses a remote switch to trigger the detonation of some explosive ordinance dug up by mine sweepers in Huambo.