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There is no argument that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first royal tour in October last year went down in the history books as a royal tour to remember. After all, if a tour coincides with news as major as the Duchess of Sussex’s announcement that she is expecting her first child, how could it not prove as a memorable trip?
So, when we learned of their second official royal tour to Africa—with the extremely important addition of their five-month-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who would concurrently complete his first royal tour—we knew that equally memorable moments would surely ensue. And you would be pleased to know the Sussex clan have not disappointed.
Now five days into their tour, which so far has kept them in South Africa, Markle and Prince Harry have attended many a royal engagement at local townships, surf schools and even at the home of a prolific religious figure, and while doing so, have perhaps unintentionally cemented a number of moments in our mind we won’t soon forget. We’re not even including the number of stunning sartorial moments Markle has gifted us with during her time on tour.
And we’re sure once the Duke and Duchess part ways mid-trip—with Prince Harry visiting Malawi, Angola and Botswana on his own—the good times, as they say, will keep on rolling.
Scroll on to revisit some of the most memorable moments from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2019 royal tour of Africa.
Archie had a twinning moment with his father as he, Markle and Prince Harry disembarked their plane in Cape Town
While Markle and Prince Harry chose to side-step the traditional red carpet welcome—breaking royal protocol in the process—we still managed to catch a glimpse of their royal tour mate, five-month-old son Archie, and we’re so glad we did.
From the few moments we saw Archie in mother Markle’s arms, we could see that the young royal wore a white beanie featuring a bobble on top as the family stepped off the plane.
Never letting a moment for father-and-son comparisons go by, keen-eyed royalists immediately recognised the knitted headwear as extremely similar to, if not exactly the same as, a beanie Prince Harry himself wore as his mother, Princess Diana carried him off a place in Scotland in 1985 at almost the very same age as Archie, subsequently creating one of our favourite Prince Harry/Archie twinning moments so far.
Image credit: Instagram.com/hellomag
Markle and Prince Harry showed off their dance moves during a visit to Cape Town’s Nyanga Township
On their second day touring South Africa, the Duke and Duchess left Archie with his nanny to no-doubt sleep off his jet lag, and made their way to the first stop of their royal tour: a visit to Cape Town’s Nyanga Township.
Engaging in double high fives, low fives and fist bumps, as reported by People, Prince Harry joined a group of young boys as they began to dance, clapping and stomping while Markle bopped to the music. And they even went in for a second round, with both royals grabbed by the hands for some more dancing. True to form, Prince Harry engaged in some series dad dance moves, a style he has performed in public in the past.
“Their dance moves are great. They’ve got their African moves,” Nosisana Nama, a resident of the township told the publication. “They were really enjoyed coming here and sharing this day with us.”
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Markle gave an emotional speech “as a woman of colour”
During the very same visit, Markle stood up to give a speech which centred around the need for women to fight for “respect, dignity and equality”, as well as her many roles and identities as a female.
Visibly moved by her own words, Markle’s speech included a moment of emotion, as she said “on one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color, and as your sister,” immediately receiving cheers from the audience, as reported by People.
Markle continued with an equally touching sentiment, saying: “I am here with you, and I am here for you”.
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Markle and Prince Harry broke royal protocol with a rare royal tour kiss
While public royal kisses are typically reserved for post-wedding photo ops, and public displays of affection in general not encouraged by behaviour-dictating royal protocol, Markle and Prince Harry have remained incredibly affectionate in the public gaze since they first stepped out together at the Invictus Games back in 2017, to now.
Perhaps forgetting for one moment that they were on a highly-publicised royal tour with the world’s eyes on them, the duke and duchess experienced an instance of normal couple behaviour as they exchanged a kiss to bid each other farewell. And yes, we think we can all agree that their sweet moment of PDA was worth breaking royal protocol for.
Image credit: Instagram.com/hellomag
We got a look at Archie for the first time since his christening portraits
As we waited for the long-promised presence of Archie, the highly-anticipated occasion finally arrived on the third day of the royal tour with Markle and Prince Harry stepping out with their baby in tow.
Debuting his first public appearance since the days following his birth, and our first look at him since his christening portraits, the proud parents posted his first royal tour moments on their official Instagram account, @sussexroyal, capturing Markle carrying a smiling Archie as she and Prince Harry cooed at his son.
Image credit: Henk Kruger/African News Agency
Prince Harry, Markle and Archie meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu
As mentioned earlier, Archie recently reached a major royal milestone by attending his first royal engagement on his very first royal tour—and what a first engagement it was.
After his first captured moments on tour, Archie along with his parents, soon met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Thandeka Tutu Gxashe, in a moment that’s been dubbed “Arch meets Archie”.
Meeting both Gxashe and the Archbishop at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town, the religious figure was full of praise for the royal family and their current tour. “Thank you for your concern and interest in the welfare of our people,” he said, as reported by the UK Telegraph. “It’s very heart-warming to realise that you really, genuinely are caring people.”
This visit reiterated the strong bond the British royal family have long had with the Archbishop, as well as cementing an important moment in world history, with veteran royal correspondent, Roya Nikkhah, pointing out the fact that their visit also marked Tutu meeting the first bi-racial British royal baby.
As “a man who has campaigned for anti-apartheid and equal rights for most of his life,” Nikkhah said to CBS News of the moment, “There is history in the making there… that is how Harry and Meghan were sending a very powerful message; with something that was quite a lovely, informal meeting, very significant.”
Image credit: Henk Kruger/African News Agency