Prince Harry's touching nod to Princess Diana spotted during rare glimpse inside Montecito mansion
By Bronte Gossling|
Prince Harry has given royal watchers a rare glimpse into his and Meghan Markle's home during a surprise virtual appearance supporting his green travel initiative.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, attended Travalyst's annual convening earlier this week, which as held in the South of France, via video conference. During the appearance, Harry urged the travel industry to centre sustainability in tourism.
At one point, when Harry was speaking, he moved his head – and that's when viewers got a peek at the touching homage to his late mother, Princess Diana, sitting on his bookshelf.
Watch the video above.
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Displayed on the white shelf, among what appeared to be coffee table books and a statuette of an owl, is what appeared to be a photo of him as a young boy with Diana, who died in 1997 when Harry was aged 12.
In the photo, Harry can be seen wrapping his arms around Diana, resting his head on her shoulder.
It's a photo we have seen before, on the first page of Harry's controversial memoir, Spare.
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Also on the bookshelf seemed to be a sketch of the Duchess of Sussex, who was drawn in outfits she wore during the couple's September 2021 visit to New York City.
It was notably their first joint public appearances following the birth of their second child, Princess Lilibet, who is now aged two.
During his virtual appearance at Travalyst's annual convening, Harry spoke with those who have been impacted by tourism and travel, emphasising, "We must do better by the people who are the custodians of the places we visit."
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The duke said: "Travel and tourism relies on destinations, held together by communities, without which we have nowhere to travel to."
He added that "communities are the beating heart of travel."
Harry continued: "We've heard from some fantastic organisations like Invisible Cities who train people affected by homelessness to be tour guides in their own city, and Global Himalayan Expedition, whose programs have helped electrify over 200 Himalayan villages impacting over 60,000 lives for the better."
"More and more people are wanting to make informed travel choices so that the benefit of travel is felt by all," Harry said.
"Travalyst and its partners bring a combined market value of nearly $US3 trillion [approx. $4.6 trillion] and are working hard to provide that resource at a systems level."
Harry launched Travalyst in September 2019, four months before he and Meghan stepped back from royal duties.
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At the time of launch, Harry said that he had been inspired by an unexpected interaction he'd had with a young boy in the Caribbean in 2012 while he was visiting a coral reef replanting project.
"I had a seven-year-old come up to me, tug my shirt, and say with such conviction: 'Because of your country, my country's coral reef is dying,'" he said in a speech at the time.
"This boy, despite his age, had tou ched on a powerful truth. He already understood that the environmental damage caused to the reef was created by the actions of people outside of his country. And he was absolutely spot on," he continued.
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He concluded: "His words deeply affected me because they revealed the full impact outsiders can have on a community without even realising it."
In a video from Harry's virtual appearance on April 16, 2024 (April 17 in Australia), which was later shared by on Harry and Meghan's website Sussex.com, Travalyst CEO Sally Davey said: "I think having Prince Harry involved in these sorts of discussions is vital."
"It demonstrates how critical it is to have community voices at the heart of everything that we're doing. We were there to listen, as was Prince Harry, to hear those voices, to learn, and to understand how can do better by those people and those places."
She added: "It's so obvious that he cares."
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