Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor made a memorable royal tour debut by meeting the Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on a tour of South Africa, released video footage and photographs on their Instagram feed of four-month-old Archie’s introduction to one of the heroes of the anti-apartheid movement.
Captioned “Arch meets Archie”, the 87-year-old archbishop emeritus of Cape Town is seen planting a kiss on the baby’s forehead during a 30-minute meeting with the couple at the historic premises of his Legacy Foundation, the Old Granary, a restored building built by slaves in the early 1800s.
Tutu, in effect the leader of the liberation struggle during Nelson Mandela’s long imprisonment, said he was “thrilled” by the “rare privilege and honour” of meeting the royals.
The couple have previously posted some of Tutu’s inspirational quotes on their Instagram page.
During the meeting, which also included the archbishop’s daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, the couple joked about their son’s time in front of the cameras.
Meghan said: “He’s an old soul”, while Harry commented: “I think he is used to it already.”
Tutu-Gxashe, who is the chief executive of the Tutu Desk campaign, which provides portable desks for schoolchildren, predicted: “You like the ladies. He’s going to be a ladies man.”
Tutu, who campaigned tirelessly for Mandela’s release, set up the legacy foundation with his wife, Nomalizo Leah Tutu, to help instil their values in the next generation of leaders.
Its chair, Niclas Kjellström-Matseke, said: “We are enormously grateful to welcome the duke and duchess to our magnificent space, and for their love and respect for ‘the Arch’.”
Prince Harry last met Tutu in November 2015 when the Queen named him as an honorary member of The Order of the Companions of Honour, in recognition of his services to UK communities, international peace and reconciliation. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1984 for his efforts in ending apartheid.
After Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first black president, he appointed Tutu to head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate abuses on all sides under apartheid rule.
After the meeting with Tutu, Meghan visited mothers2mothers, a charity supporting mothers with HIV, bringing with her a holdall of baby clothing outgrown by Archie and the children of friends. They included two tiny white vests, one bearing the words The Future, and another with the Invictus Games logo. “I just thought that, in the spirit of community, what’s so nice is to be able to share some of the things that we have at home as well,” she told her hosts at the charity’s international HQ in Cape Town.
