Revisiting Prince William's Last Working Trip to South Africa With Brother Prince Harry
The Prince of Wales visited Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa in 2010 alongside his estranged brother.
As Prince William prepares for his royal trip to South Africa to attend the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony, historians and royal family fans alike are revisiting the Prince of Wales' last trip to the region alongside his now-estranged brother, Prince Harry.
The ceremony, which takes place on November 6, will be the backdrop for Prince William's return to South Africa after his June 2010 visit with his brother. The pair—then on speaking terms—were 27 and 25, respectively, at the time, embarking on their first joint overseas tour as working royals. As Hello! reported at the time, the 2010 trip was an opportunity for the famous brothers to "show one another the work" their respective charities and organizations "had achieved" in the region.
While in South Africa together, the brothers attended a soccer match between Algeria and England while visiting Cape Town. They also made visits to support their individual patronages Tusk Trust and Sentebale in Botswana and Lesotho.
Prince Harry has since returned to the region, but sans his older brother as the pair remain estranged amid ongoing royal family tensions following Prince Harry's U.K. exit and subsequent, tell-all memoir Spare.
As for Prince William, his return to South Africa marks a significant moment not just for the working royal but for his wife, Princess Kate, and their family. Now that Kate Middleton has completed preventative chemotherapy treatments for an unspecified type of cancer, Prince William's solo overseas trip reportedly shows that Middleton is healthy enough for her husband to leave her side.
“Catherine has been undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer, as she has so movingly told us, and though she has finished chemotherapy, she has said she still has a long way to go," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk in a recent interview.
William would undoubtedly not be going to South Africa, even though the trip is for the fourth Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony, if he did not feel that she was doing well and was happy coping with the family in his absence."
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Fitzwilliams went on to say that while the event in South Africa is "his brainchild," his devotion to his wife would take priority if he felt she was too unwell for him to travel.
"We know that they are a devoted couple and what his priorities are, and that he feels able to go is another encouraging sign that she is doing well," he explained.
As for the brothers and their relationship, all reports indicates their estrangement remains unchanged. However, those closest to the royals say there is hope for a future reconciliation.
Recently, a royal insider told People in an exclusive interview that the rift is "very bad," but it’s not "irreparable."
Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.
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