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Prince Harry carries out engagements in Cardiff

5th June 2008

Prince Harry was warmly welcomed today when he arrived in Cardiff for his first full day of official engagements in Wales.

Pupils and staff from Cathays High in Cardiff welcomed the Prince when he came to learn about their work with disadvantaged children in Africa by forging links with a school in the kingdom of Lesotho.

Prince Harry, with Prince Seesio of Lesotho, established the charity Sentebale to help youngsters - many Aids orphans - in the land-locked nation in southern Africa by funding community projects or offering management support.

Prince Harry spent time shaking the hands held out to him and stopping to chat to many of the children who waved Welsh and Lesotho flags.

Schoolgirl Hollie White, 12, from nearby Gabalfa, could hardly speak after meeting The Prince and said: "I'm a big fan of the royal family, now I've met Harry I want to meet The Queen."

Prince Harry - an officer in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals - will be joining members of his regiment in Lesotho later this summer to help build care facilities and repair infrastructure for projects supported by Sentebale.

As he walked past the pupils he stopped in front of Matthew Taylor, a red-haired 12-year-old who said after meeting the Prince: "We all thought he was going to walk past but he actually took the time to stop and talk to us.

"He said to me 'I'm ginger - gingers love gingers.’"

In the school, the Prince met pupils who have been fundraising for Molapo High school in Lesotho since 2005.

The students have raised thousands to help buy much needed equipment and even a herd of cows, at a cost of £500 each, that will provide milk for the students.

Funds collected from sponsored events will also be used to build accommodation for the Aids orphans attending Molapo High, and Prince Harry chatted to four teenagers who will be going to Lesotho this autumn to help with its construction.

The Prince also spoke to Joseph Mason, 16, who completed a fundraising bike trek up the Brecon Beacons with two friends in aid of the African school.

Harry joked with him, saying: "I've spent a night up there with the Army, it's not a nice place to be and it rains all the time."

Cathays head teacher Rod Phillips said his pupils had valuable experience by learning about Lesotho and making contact with Molapo students.

Speaking about Prince Harry’s visit, he added: "I was delighted that Harry took the opportunity to meet so many children individually. He seemed very relaxed and confident with them.

"For each of these individual children it's going to be a memory they are going to treasure."

Prince Harry continued his day of engagements in Cardiff with a visit to the University Hospital of Wales.

Staff and patients from the children's hospital lined the Prince's route, cheering and waving Welsh flags.

A smiling Harry stopped to talk to a group of student nurses, commiserating with them about their long working hours, before holding five-month-old patient Lexi Hailstone.

The infant, who has a rare chromosome disorder, is recovering from meningitis.

Lexi's mother, Natasha Martin, 19, from Bridgend said: "He was really lovely, very down to earth. I asked if he wanted a picture and he said, 'Do you want me to hold her?'"

The Prince looked at ease as he took the sleeping baby in his arms and raised a chuckle when he told the crowds: "She's not mine!" He added: "It's a girl."

Prince Harry also knelt down to talk to two 11-year-olds, Emily Williams and Raymond Lillycrop, who have both undergone major spinal surgery.

Hospital play specialist Jayne Williams said: "He said they were both very brave. Emily is a Cardiff City supporter and he was saying it was a shame they lost the FA Cup final."

Inside the hospital Harry met doctors and nurses from the Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust, who have been involved in the health work of Dolen Cymru, an organisation that has twinned Wales with
Lesotho to forge educational, health and religious links between the two nations.

Since 2006 Dolen Cymru, which has Prince Harry as its Patron, has been working with the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Lesotho's capital Maseru and particularly with the paediatric ward and children's HIV clinic to help develop it into a centre of excellence and to provide the best care for affected children.

The clinic offers antiretroviral therapy (ART) and so far around 500 children have received the care that they desperately need.

Andrew Freedman, senior lecturer in infectious diseases and honorary consultant physician, said: "Harry was very interested in the work we're doing.

"It's hugely important for Dolen Cymru to have his support in terms of raising their profile. He was just very interested in everything we're doing. He does have a personal interest in Lesotho.

"We hope that we're going to keep this link going in the future."

Judith van der Voort, a consultant paediatric nephrologist (kidney specialist), said: "Harry explained that he had been out to Lesotho and that he had met the children there. He said how the children are so pleased with so little. He was interested to hear that I'm thinking of taking my children there. He thought it was a good idea for children from the western world to visit places like Lesotho.

"He seemed very knowledgeable and was talking to us about his own experiences in the country."

In the afternoon the Prince gave a speech at the third annual Lesotho Links Conference.  The event was hosted by Dolen Cymru at the Wales Millennium Stadium, and is an international conference for organisations supporting development and change in Lesotho.

Prince Harry told the delegates: "In 2004 in my own gap year I spent 10 weeks volunteering in Lesotho on a variety of projects.

"It was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, and it opened my eyes in so many different ways.

"I don't need to tell this audience how amazing Lesotho is or how incredible the people are.

"And as you all know, if you've ever heard a group of Basotho children sing you simply can't turn your back on them."

Prince Harry and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso launched the charity Sentebale, which means forget-me-not, in 2006.

Speaking about the charity's efforts Prince Harry added: "It's not easy work, and it takes time, but we've got some great people working for us and we're committed to it."

Prince Seeiso, who was also at the Conference said: "When we launched Sentebale it took some time to pick up momentum as it was a new charity on the ground.

"We're beginning to get our heads around the whole issue of vulnerable children now. We are now directly out there getting involved.

"We are working with mentally and physically disabled children in Lesotho and another group of vulnerable children, the herdboys."

Later in the evening, Prince Harry opened an exhibition of tapestries from Lesotho at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.

The Prince mingled with the guests, who included officials from the Welsh Assembly and nationals from the Southern African country including the Kingdom's Prince Seeiso and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ken Tsekoa.

Wales's First Minister Rhodri Morgan addressed the invited audience before the Prince cut the tape to open the exhibition of woven artwork depicting stylised scenes from Lesotho, including landscapes, figures and villages.

Mr Morgan gave a detailed tribute to the organisation, Dolen Cyrmu, and described how the Welsh Assembly supports the organisation by funding up to 10 teachers a year to work in the African country.

The First Minister added: "We know that Lesotho is a country with a huge problem as regards HIV/Aids, the third-highest rate in the world, I believe.

"But we are sure that the goodwill that exists and the determination to solve the HIV/Aids problem is going to serve Lesotho well."

Prince Harry also gave his second speech of the day just before launching the exhibition when he told the guests that he applauded the work of Dolen Cymru's Chairman, Wayne Crocker, and all those who have worked for the charity that was established more than 20 years ago.

He added: "I would also like to offer my thanks to the Welsh Assembly government, for their commitment to Lesotho.

"I heard this morning during my visit to the Cardiff and Vale trust of a new project funded by the Welsh Assembly Government's Wales for Africa programme.

"It's run by Dolen Cymru and is designed to give people with a learning disability the opportunity to volunteer in Lesotho."

Click here to read Prince Harry's speech at the third Lesotho Links Conference.

Click here to read Prince Harry's speech to open the Dolen Cymru Lesotho Exhibition.

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