It looks like Prince Harry is in Africa right now.
Just days after he and Meghan Markle announced their impending trip to the U.K. and Germany in September, the Duke of Sussex was pictured in Mozambique.
Twitter user Eric Morier-Genoud posted a photo featuring the royal and captioned, "Prince Harry is in Vilankulos," which is a coastal town in the country.
In the photo, the duke poses in a gray polo shirt, navy cargo shorts and gray sneakers. He is also wearing a hat featuring the logo for African Parks, a South Africa-based NGO for which he serves as network president. Prince Harry has been involved with the charity since 2016 and has been in his role as president since 2017, helping to protect national parks and wildlife on the continent.
It's unclear why the royal has traveled to Africa this time around, but freelance writer and royal watcher R.S. Locke has advanced some theories.
Taking to Twitter, they wrote, "Prince Harry wearing his trusty @AfricanParks hat. Perhaps getting in a bit of travel to Mozambique before he and Meghan venture to the UK next month?"
Alongside some paparazzi shots of the duke seeing the sights, Locke wrote, "According to local reports, Harry visited tourist attractions in the Vilankulo region. Scouting for Travalyst and African Parks?"
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A royal fan commented, "Likely doing some conservation work as President of African Parks," to which Locke replied, "That was my guess as well. With the pandemic, it’s been awhile since we’ve heard about a trip to Africa and the summer is when he used to spend a lot of time with his patronages there."
Someone else wrote, "H&M are the only VIPs I do this for: stop what I'm doing to research a new thing re them. So... Vilankulos is on the east coast & a short plane hop to the archipelago Bazaruto, which contains a National Park that is the 1rst marine park managed by AP."
Read: Prince Harry being in Africa for conservation work is a likely theory.
The royal has long been making visits to the continent. He first visited with his father Prince Charles at age 13, and has returned many times since.
During his recent speech at the United Nations on the occasion of Nelson Mandela Day, he said, "Since I first visited Africa at 13 years old, I've always found hope on the continent. In fact, for most of my life, it has been my lifeline... It's where I've felt closest to my mother and sought solace after she died, and where I knew I had found a soulmate in my wife" (via Hello!).
The late Princess Diana also visited Africa many times, during her marriage to Prince Charles and after it. As for Harry, he and his now-wife traveled to Africa together in the early days of their romance, which cemented their future.
Oh, and if you didn't quite catch that Travalyst reference, it's a non-profit he launched to promote more planet-friendly travel. So there you have it.
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.
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