Prince Harry: ‘Sentebale Charity Is In Memory Of His And Prince Seeiso’s Mothers’

By Cat Williams. Published: 5 May 2016 11:26 AM

Prince Harry was in high spirits after celebrating a victory at the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup in Palm Beach, Florida.

The annual fundraising event raises money for Sentebale, a charity created by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, which helps vulnerable children and forgotten victims of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Lesotho in Southern Africa.

At an exclusive event following the tournament, Prince Harry announced that his charity would be expanding to Botswana. Sentebale, as the 31-year-old royal explained, means forget me not in Lesotho, and serves in memory of his and Prince Seeiso’s mothers. Forget-me-nots were also the favourite flowers of his mother, Princess Diana.

In his speech, Prince Harry recalls that when visiting Lesotho 12 years ago, he was “struck by the many children that [he] met whose lives had been torn apart by the loss of one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses.”; Recalling his own loss of a parent, he said, “Having lost my own mother seven years before, I felt a profound connection to these children.”;

He continued, “In spite of the obvious differences in our lives, we shared the loss of a parent, and that ever-present emptiness that could never be filled.”;