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Prince Harry gives an interview to mark the launch of Sentebale - Part 1

27th April 2006

Interview by Laura Elston for the Press Association

Prince Harry has launched a charity with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho today to help children orphaned by Aids in Lesotho.

Known as Sentebale, The Princes' Fund for Lesotho, it will tackle the plight of youngsters in the disease-stricken southern African country which has been ravaged by HIV and Aids.

The word Sentebale means Forget-me-Not in Sesotho, the language of Lesotho. It was chosen as the name of the new charity by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso as a tribute and memorial to the charity work of their own mothers.

The new organisation is a major step in Prince Harry’s pledge to continue his mother’s work with children and people affected by Aids.

Prince Harry made a documentary about the plight of children in Lesotho when he was on his gap year in 2004.

It was called ‘The Forgotten Kingdom: Prince Harry in Lesotho’ and raised £1 million, including donations from the public, for the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund.

This was used to back 18 different projects, including the building of a storage hut for a child counselling centre, furnishing a kitchen at a home for teenage mothers and providing a new computerised Braille machine for blind teenagers.

Harry has returned to Lesotho several times since and now has established Sentebale to take over the work of the fund.

Sentebale will work directly with community-based organisations.

Prince Harry returned to the impoverished kingdom this week to launch Sentebale and visited the Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek to which he travelled two years ago on his first trip to Lesotho.

He was reunited with Mutsu Potsane, the little boy orphaned by Aids who he became so fond of during his previous visits.

The Prince also travelled to the remote rural village of Nokong, high in the rugged foothills of the Maluti mountains, to see the maize being produced by a crop-sharing project, which is helping to feed vulnerable children.

The Prince vowed to be committed to his new charity for life and described the huge impact his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had on his decision to set up the organisation, through her work with HIV/Aids.

He co-founded the charity with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso whose own mother Queen Mamohato, a much-loved figure in the country, died in 2003.

Harry revealed: “Sentebale does mean ‘forget me not’ and it’s a way that both me and Prince Seeiso can relate to our mothers, who were both in sort of the same jobs working with orphaned children.”

He added: “We thought about a lot of names, a lot of them. I asked Seeiso to find one in Sesotho (the Lesotho language). He came up with this one and it just stood out.”

Sentebale is also used to say goodbye, meaning literally “Don't forget me”.

On how much of an inspiration Diana had been to Sentebale, the Prince revealed: "Massively. Mine, as well as Seeiso's mother.

“Both our mothers were hugely connected with Aids, especially the orphaned children from that itself.

“As I said last year or two years ago, I wanted to carry on as best I could what she started and what better place than to do it than here?

“I’m sure she knew this place, but I’m trying to start something slightly new.

“This particular charity, rather than aiming directly at Aids itself, it’s about the knock on effect on the children so we can actually help the kids. Most other charities are concentrating on other areas.”

Asked if he thought his mother would be proud, he said with a smile: “I hope so.”

The Prince described his determination to help, saying: “There’s no one else. It’s only us. This is our place. We're starting with small projects.”

“You’ll be surprised. Come back to this place in 25 years, you’ll see a massive difference.”

The Prince insisted: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m committed for the rest of my life.”

The charity plans to offer long-term support to projects which often miss out on large-scale international funding because they are too small and too new.

In the summer, Harry will play a series of polo matches, probably with Prince William, to raise money for Sentebale.

On how much time he could devote to the charity while serving in the military, the Prince said: “The army? We’ll have to wait and see.

“I’ll be coming here to visit as much as I can, coming to see my good friend Prince Seeiso, to see the kids. It would be weird not to come back.”

Both the orphanage and the crop-sharing scheme were supported by the Red Cross Lesotho Fund, which was set up as a temporary measure to distribute funds collected following the television documentary Harry made about Lesotho in 2004.

On this trip, the sensitive, affectionate Prince was a far cry from the recent images of "Harry the Soldier", bearing his rifle, ready for battle.

Harry was in his element, playing with the children and doing his best to make shy Mutsu smile.

The Prince, on his fourth visit to Lesotho, will soon begin training to become an Army troop commander in the Blues and Royals.

He came to the country twice in his gap year in 2004 and also returned last year after his first term at Sandhurst, meeting Mutsu once again privately.

Geoffrey Matthews, executive trustee of Sentebale, said the charity was still in its early stages, but Harry was passionate about making it a success.

“Support is desperately needed in Lesotho. The statistics tell their own story. There are minimum 120,000 orphans and possibly a maximum of 200,000.” he said.

“The life expectancy is 37 years and falling, and the prevalence of HIV and Aids is a least 30 per cent of the 1.8 million population and it seems to be climbing.”

“I can honestly say that Harry is incredibly passionate about the charity. He fell in love with Lesotho and its people and he was profoundly stunned by the plight of the children here. He realised there was something he could do to help.

“He and Prince Seeiso are both very clear about the fact that the charity is a memorial to the charitable work of their mothers. They see it as a continuation of their mothers’ work.

“Both are second sons of a royal family. Both have lost their mothers and, sadly, in Seeiso’s case his father as well.”

He added: “The name of the charity also means don’t forget the children who are sometimes the unseen victims of the Aids pandemic.

“It can sometimes be easy in the Western world to forget just how severe the ravages of the Aids pandemic remain in southern Africa.

“There’s a feeling that we’ve got Aids cracked. But you only have to come to a country like this and realise that that’s just not the case.”

Around 70 people die in Lesotho from Aids every day.

Sentebale, which is taking over from the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund, will begin its operations in full this summer, following the appointment of a country director.