Prince Harry Arrives in South Africa, Reunites With Young Orphan Friend

Prince Harry has landed in South Africa to begin his week-long tour of the Lesotho and South Africa, and has reunited with an old friend.

Straight off an overnight fight from London, the ginger-haired prince met an array of dignitaries and officials, including His Majesty King Letsei III who he visited at the King’s Palace in Maseru.

Harry then went on to the Mamohato Children’s Centre, where he was tasked with officially opening the ground-breaking new center for children with HIV and AIDS, parts of which are named after his mother, Princess Diana, and his favorite nanny, Olga Powell.

It was here that a special reunion took place. Harry was reunited with an orphan he first befriended 11 years ago at the Mants’ase Children’s Home near Mohale’s Hoek, and with whom he has continued to remain in touch ever since.

The child, Mutsu Potsane, was just four years old when he first met the British royal and formed an immediate attachment with him. The kind-hearted prince bought the little tot a pair of blue Wellington boots at the time, which the youngster used to wear to bed.

As Potsane, now 14, approached the 31-year-old royal today, Harry scooped the teenager into his arms into a bear hug. Harry then goofed around with his young friend, messing about with his hat and making the teenager laugh.

“I felt very happy, very excited,” the teenager said via a translator after the meeting. “I’m very comfortable around Harry, he is very comfortable around me. We click.”

The Mamohato Children’s Centre has been built by Harry’s charity, Sentebale, which he founded with Prince Seeiso in memory of their mothers. Princess Diana did much to reduce the early stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS when she was alive, and her name will live on in the dining hall, chosen because it is where the children being helped by the centre will come together three times a day.

Source: Us