Harry and Meghan announce baby Archie will join them on royal tour

Meghan Markle smiles as Prince Harry holds Baby Archie
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with newborn son Archie in May. Photo: Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are going on tour to South Africa this autumn and they’re taking baby Archie with them.

Harry and Meghan revealed their excitement about their overseas trip on their official Instagram page on Thursday afternoon, and appeared to confirm that their son will be joining them.

“The Duke and Duchess are really looking forward to meeting so many of you on the ground and continuing to raise awareness of the high impact work local communities are doing across the commonwealth and beyond.

“This will be their first official tour as a family!”

Dates for their trip are still to be confirmed, but Archie, who was born on May 6, will be around four or five months old at the time of travel.

Reports emerged weeks ago that the couple would be heading off on a tour of Africa later this year.

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On Thursday, Buckingham Palace confirmed the duke and duchess “will undertake an official visit to South Africa this Autumn at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”

The palace added that Harry will also visit Angola, Malawi and Botswana.

The British High Commissioner Nigel Casey to South Africa revealed the couple will be visiting the country later this year during a press conference on Wednesday morning.

He said: He joked: “That's great news for us, and I predict it's also good news for the South African economy.

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“I predict a hat and frock buying frenzy to rival even SONA [the country's State of the Nation Address, which took place last Thursday] which could restore economic growth all on its own.

“We're hugely looking forward to that and thanks in anticipation for that and all the support that I know we're going to receive.”

It’s believed that Harry, 34, will visit the same minefield in Angola as his mother Princess Diana did in 1997, according to ITV.

Diana, Princess of Wales, walks with body armour and a visor on the minefields during a visit to Angola on January 30, 1997.
Princess Diana in the minefields in Angola in 1997. Photo: Getty Images

The visit was part of Diana’s work with HALO (Hazardous Areas Life-Support Organisation) Trust.

Harry, who was patron of the HALO Trust’s 25th anniversary, is said to want to continue his mother’s legacy.

In 2013, he visited the Cuando Cubango region in southeast Angola with the charity, where he saw first-hand the impact of landmines on communities and the human suffering they cause.

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Botswana is a country that Harry also has a close affinity with. It’s where he whisked Meghan off to for her birthday in August 2017 and the centre stone in her engagement ring was sourced from the country.

The couple also recently shared a photo of their 2017 visit to Bostwana on their Instagram account, when they assisted Dr. Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders in equipping a bull elephant with a satellite collar.

Words by Danielle Stacey

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