Prince Harry has spoken of his 'heartbreak' in a statement released after his trip to Angola, where he followed in Princess Diana's footsteps by walking through a minefield.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, touched down in the South African nation over the weekend to complete the walk with his charity, The Halo Trust.
His crossing of the cleared minefield mirrors Princess Diana's in January 1997, when the nation experienced a brief period of peace following a two-decade civil war that had left the country contaminated by more than 15 million landmines.
The prince also walked the minefield back in 2013, which has now been transformed thanks to clearance by Angolan men and women trained by HALO.
However, he was not joined by his wife Meghan Markle after reportedly deciding it was too dangerous for her to join him.
In comments shared to Harry and Meghan's Sussex.com website following his participation in a landmine safety education session in the remote village of Mawano, the Duke said what he had witnessed 'breaks my heart'.
Referring to his children Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, he said: 'As a father to young children, it breaks my heart to see innocent children still living and playing next to minefields.'
'All of us have a duty to protect children and future generations from the harms of war, both present and past.'
Discussing the absence of his wife, Meghan, a source said: 'The duke won't let his wife go to England over security concerns, so there was no chance he'd allow her to go to Angola to walk across landmines.'
A source involved in organising the event told the MailOnline: 'Usually these trips help to drive a bit more money from the government.'
The session formed part of Halo's community outreach programme. The Prince also repeated safety instructions in Portuguese, taught local children how to recognise and avoid landmines, and spoke to families.
Harry said: 'Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school. Here in Angola, over three decades later, the remnants of war still threaten lives every day.'
The Duke added: 'The Angolan government's continued commitment is a powerful testament to HALO's success in saving lives and reducing humanitarian risk.'
During a meeting with the President, Harry said, per Sussex.com: 'This commitment is about more than removing deadly devices.'
'It's about unlocking potential in a country that has so much - enabling children to walk to school safely, allowing farmers to grow crops, attracting sustainable development and bringing back wildlife tourism.'
Harry also said: 'This work isn't just about removing explosives - it's about enabling opportunity, development, and long-term peace.'
In 2019, when Harry came on board as Halo's patron, the Angolan government pledged £46million to create wildlife corridors and protect endangered species in conservation areas. It set a target of clearing all landmines by 2025 and Harry is said to hope that his presence there will boost efforts to meet the target.
Angola is in southwestern Africa, along the Atlantic coast. It was ravaged by a brutal 27-year civil war until 2002 and the country is still grappling with the legacy of landmines, with millions buried across the countryside.
Halo has cleared more than 123,000 landmines since 1994, and works to transform former war zones into farmland, national parks and 'safe' villages.
Despite the progress made, more than 1,000 minefields remain across Angola.
Princess Diana's walk in 1997 took place when the nation experienced a brief period of peace following a two-decade civil war that had left the country contaminated by more than 15 million landmines.
Wearing a Halo Trust flak jacket and helmet, the striking photographs of the royal went down in history, particularly as she died later that year in a car crash.
At least 60,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines in Angola since 2008, although the exact number of casualties is not known and is likely to be higher.
HALO has cleared more than 120,000 landmines and 100,000 bombs from the country, but at least 80 Angolans have still been killed by them in the last five years.
Over 1,000 minefields remain to be cleared across the entire country, including on the periphery of the Lobito Corridor, a strategically important railway that links Angola's Atlantic coast to the mineral heartlands of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
James Cowan, CEO of The HALO Trust, said: 'We are hugely grateful to President Lourenço for his leadership and to the Duke of Sussex for his personal commitment to HALO's work in Angola.'
'This new contract is an important step forward in our mission to make Angola mine-free, and we will continue our work in solidarity with the Angolan people until every last mine is cleared.'
This is the latest of several significant visits Harry has made to Angola in recent years.
In September 2019, after he became patron, he retraced the exact steps his mother took near Huambo, causing a sensation across the globe.
The duke also visited the remote Dirico region, where he toured a newly cleared minefield, detonated a landmine, and spent a night camping by the Cuito River.
He then visited the town's Princess Diana Orthopaedic Centre, met female deminers, and toured a demining camp in southeastern Angola.
In September 2024, he joined Angola's foreign minister at a United Nations Halo event in New York. Again, Meghan steered clear of the event despite the fact it was in the US.
The trip comes in the wake of a secret peace summit held between Harry's two most senior aides and King Charles's head of communications in central London earlier this month.
The meeting was described as a charm offensive by the Sussexes to turn around their negative public image.
Harry and Meghan's new chief of communications, Meredith Maines, met with Tobyn Andreae, the King's communications secretary, at the Royal Over-Seas League a three-minute walk from Clarence House, the monarch's London residence, on Wednesday.
Also present was Liam Maguire, who runs the Sussexes' PR team in the UK. Images of the rendezvous raised hopes of a reconciliation between Harry, 40, and his father, 76.
The meeting, held at a private members club in London, was the first step in a 'rapprochement process' to restore the broken relationship between the duke, his wife Meghan and the rest of the royal family.
While royal experts claimed a wounded Prince William will feel less inclined to resolve the feud than his father King Charles, they added the monarch would have undoubtedly consulted the heir to the throne before conducting any peace talks with Harry's aides.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: 'The King and Harry are currently, we understood from Harry's interview on the BBC, not speaking. This meeting obviously is a sign things are moving forward.'
'The King would never have made these moves without William's support and understanding. William and Catherine are the future of the monarchy.'
'He has undoubtedly been furious at the way the Sussexes have behaved and undoubtedly regards Harry's behaviour as treason of a sort. They reportedly have not spoken in over two years.'
'Ideally, the Sussexes might like to drive a wedge between the King and the heir to the throne. They won't succeed.'
However, following the summit, the Mail revealed that Prince Harry has 'no plans' ever to move back to Britain despite the recent hopes of a reconciliation with King Charles.
Following news of a secret peace summit between aides of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and his father, it was thought the Windsor family feud could be resolved paving a way for the prince to return to the UK.
However friends of Harry and Meghan have said the couple are 'very happy' in California and are never likely to return.
A source who is close to Harry 40 said: 'They're very happy living in and raising their family in California and as it stands have no plans to leave.'