As Prince William prepares for his royal trip to South Africa to attend the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony, historians and royal family fans alike are revisiting the Prince of Wales’ last trip to the region alongside his now-estranged brother, Prince Harry.
The ceremony, which takes place on November 6, will be the backdrop for Prince William’s return to South Africa after his June 2010 visit with his brother. The pair—then on speaking terms—were 27 and 25, respectively, at the time, embarking on their first joint overseas tour as working royals. As Hello! reported at the time, the 2010 trip was an opportunity for the famous brothers to “show one another the work” their respective charities and organizations “had achieved” in the region.
While in South Africa together, the brothers attended a soccer match between Algeria and England while visiting Cape Town. They also made visits to support their individual patronages Tusk Trust and Sentebale in Botswana and Lesotho.
Prince Harry has since returned to the region, but sans his older brother as the pair remain estranged amid ongoing royal family tensions following Prince Harry’s U.K. exit and subsequent, tell-all memoir Spare.
Prince William and Prince Harry arrive to attend the 2010 World Cup group C first round football match between England and Algeria on June 18, 2010 at Green Point stadium in Cape Town.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
As for Prince William, his return to South Africa marks a significant moment not just for the working royal but for his wife, Princess Kate, and their family. Now that Kate Middleton has completed preventative chemotherapy treatments for an unspecified type of cancer, Prince William’s solo overseas trip reportedly shows that Middleton is healthy enough for her husband to leave her side.
“Catherine has been undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer, as she has so movingly told us, and though she has finished chemotherapy, she has said she still has a long way to go,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk in a recent interview.
William would undoubtedly not be going to South Africa, even though the trip is for the fourth Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony, if he did not feel that she was doing well and was happy coping with the family in his absence.”
Prince Harry and Prince William take part in a game with HIV affected children at the Mamahato Network Club at King Letsie’s Palace on June 17, 2010 in Maseru, Lesotho.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Fitzwilliams went on to say that while the event in South Africa is “his brainchild,” his devotion to his wife would take priority if he felt she was too unwell for him to travel.
“We know that they are a devoted couple and what his priorities are, and that he feels able to go is another encouraging sign that she is doing well,” he explained.
As for the brothers and their relationship, all reports indicates their estrangement remains unchanged. However, those closest to the royals say there is hope for a future reconciliation.
Recently, a royal insider told People in an exclusive interview that the rift is “very bad,” but it’s not “irreparable.”
