Britain's Duchess of Sussex Meghan hold her baby son Archie as she and the Duke meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife at the Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town on September 25, 2019. Picture: HENK KRUGER / POOL / AFP
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Wednesday took their four-month-old son Archie to meet Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, the royal baby’s first public outing since his birth in May.
To the delight of royal-watchers, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan walked into the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation carrying a smiley Archie in blue dungarees.
The family touched down in Cape Town on Monday for a 10-day trip in South Africa and other countries in the region.
Both parents have hit the ground running — speaking up for victims of gender violence, delving into local history and visiting charities that support poor children and disadvantaged youth.
But little Archie had yet to make an appearance, until he was taken for tea with one of South Africa’s iconic anti-apartheid figures.
Archbishop Tutu and his wife Leah came out to greet the trio as they arrived, and Tutu kissed the baby’s forehead.
In a video posted on Twitter by journalists attending the event, Meghan bounced Archie on her lap as he made faces at the elderly couple.
They all laughed at Archie’s expressions.
“You like the ladies better,” joked Leah.
“I think he knows exactly what’s going on,” said Harry.
The adults shared an assortment of pastries decorated with the words “peace”, “freedom” and “enough is enough” in reference to protests against gender violence that took place this month.
Archie had a special heart-shaped biscuit with his name written on it.
Tutu told the couple they were “adored” by South Africans.
“It’s heartwarming,” Meghan replied.
Harry last met Tutu in 2015, when he presented the archbishop with an honour in recognition for his services to UK communities and international peace.
Tutu was awarded a Nobel prize in 1984 for his unflinching opposition to the policies of apartheid — a white-supremacist regime that dominated South Africa until 1994.
The foundation, launched in 2013, focuses on youth leadership and social justice.
The prince separated from his family later on Wednesday to travel to Botswana, Angola and Malawi.
He will visit conservation and HIV prevention projects, and a cleared minefield in Angola through which his late mother Princess Diana famously crossed in 1997.
Meanwhile, Meghan joined a panel on empowering the next generation of female entrepreneurs that took place in Africa’s oldest tech incubator.
She then visited an organisation that trains HIV-positive women to become community health workers known as “mentor mothers”.
“My friends and I just brought some little things. It’s so important to be able to share from our families to yours,” said Meghan, handing a bag filled with baby clothes.
The duchess cooed toddlers and met with the mentors, some of whom were willing to share their stories.
Limpho Nteko tearfully recalled the shame she felt when doctors told her she had the AIDS virus.
“I wanted to shut down,” said Nteko, who is now a supervisor for mentor mothers in Lesotho and has two HIV-free children.
“They made me believe again,” she added. “Being HIV positive is not a death sentence.”
The duchess and Archie will remain in South Africa during Harry’s tour of the region.
They will reunite with the duke in Johannesburg next week to complete the trip as a family and fly back on October 2.
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