Watch CBS News

Prince Harry walks across Angolan minefield to reconnect with Princes Diana's legacy

Prince Harry walks across Angolan minefield
Prince Harry walks across Angolan minefield as Princess Diana did two decades ago 01:17

It's day six of the Duke of Sussex' royal tour of Africa with his wife Meghan and baby Archie. But Friday morning, Harry returned to Angola alone to reconnect with the legacy of his late mother, Princess Diana.

Diana's legacy was brought full circle when Harry donned the distinctive blue body armor of the HALO Trust. Twenty-two years ago, Diana took a similar path across an Angolan field scattered with deadly landmines, left over from years of civil war. It became one of the most iconic images of her short life.

remembering-diana-p148.jpg
Wearing protective body armor and a visor, Diana, Princess of Wales, visits a minefield being cleared by the charity Halo in Huambo, Angola, January 15, 1997. Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images

She was campaigning to rid the world of this weapon of war, but never lived to see her success, dying just months before an international treaty banned landmines in December 1997.

Over two decades later, the world is still not free of these devices. And echoing his mother, loud and clear, Prince Harry detonated a recently detected mine.

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

0927-ctm-princeharrydiana-patta.jpg
Prince Harry detonated a recently detected mine in Angola. CBS
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.