Prince Harry has revealed he sometimes can’t get out of bed in the mornings because he’s so worried about all the problems in the world.
The Duke of Sussex, who has previously spoken of his mental health struggles, told hold how he feels so “overwhelmed” by global issues that he can’t rise in time.
Harry, 35, made the comments during the second day of the his visit to South Africa with wife Meghan and baby son Archie.
The couple visited the Auwal Mosque in the Bo-Kaap district, the first and oldest mosque in the country, where the Duke spoke to students from the local community.
Among them was Peter Oki, 18, an Anglican Christian, originally from Lagos,
Nigeria, who moved to Cape Town five years ago and attended a Jewish school.
Peter, who now studies politics and sociology at the University of Cape Town, said he asked Harry and Meghan what they wanted their “legacy” to be.
“Harry said that he often woke up and felt overwhelmed by too many problems in the world,” said Peter.
“That sometimes it’s hard to get out of bed in the mornings because of all the issues.
“But he wanted to use their platform to enable grass-roots change and to try and create a better society.”
The couple also heard from Banzi Bottoman, 17, a Christian who attends Gardens Commercial High School. He told them: “Just because someone looks different to how I do, that doesn’t make me inferior to anyone else. We need to build bridges between people of different heritages.”
Meghan, who wore a floor-length olive dress and cream headscarf, told him: “That was just so meaningful, it gave me chills.”
Harry, thumping his chest, said:“You can feel that you’re speaking from here.”
Earlier, the couple had been welcomed to the mosque by Imam Sheikh Ismail Londt, the Muslim community leader Mohamed Groenwald and Father Weeder, the Dean of Cape Town.
They also met Father Michael Lapsley, an Anglican who was born in New Zealand but moved to South Africa to campaign against segregation during the apartheid era whose hands were blown off in 1990 by a letter bomb.
In April 1990, three months after ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, he was sent a letter bomb by the Civil Cooperation Bureau, a covert outfit of the apartheid security forces.
It was hidden inside two religious magazines that he was expecting in the mail. The explosion resulted in the loss of both hands and the sight in his left eye, together with seriously burns which kept him in hospital for several months.
He said: “Shaking hands is obviously not natural for me so I went to hug the Duchess and her response was “thank you”.
“I received a warm hug from both Harry and Meghan, I could tell immediately they are warm people who mean well. I was only invited the day before the event so I was very honoured to meet them.
“Harry immediately motioned to my hands and said ‘letter bomb?’ It was instinctive on his part and it was a good conversation starter.
“In terms of Harry and Meghan’s visit, I believe their tone, the way they are speaking has been quite beautiful. There’s a naturalness, a warmth, a genuineness that is communicating from them and they have been very well received.”
During their visit to the mosque, the couple viewed the first known manuscript of the Qu’ran in South Africa, which was drafted by Imam Tuan Guru (first Imam) from memory while he was imprisoned on Robben Island.
Earlier in the day the couple joined schoolchildren at the stunning Monwabisi beach near an infamous crime ridden township where an alleged murderer was shot dead by pilive just hours before the royals’ arrival.
There Meghan and Harry meditated with youngsters from the Waves For Change collective which teaches mental health skills and surfing lessons.
During a a ‘power hand’ bonding exercise, where the couple were asked to declare their personal strengths, Harry cheekily ducked the task and invited his wife to share instead.
Meghan looked bashful as she tried to think of something and was told she might consider dancing her strong point, but she laughed and said no.
But she did think of something she was good at - ‘parenting’, she said,
was a new strength that she and Harry were ‘learning and developing’.
Turning to her husband, she declared him ‘the best dad’, while Harry - who smile and looked his wife in the eye with a loving ‘ahhh’ - called her ‘the best mum’.
On Wednesday the couple are due to meet iconic civil rights campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu before Harry leaves for Botswana and Meghan stayed in Cape Town to visit and mother and baby charity for people affected by HIV and Aids.
