The Duke of Sussex has suggested that the world’s ‘exploitation of nature’ could be to blame for the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prince Harry said in an open letter revealed today that ‘some evidence suggests that the virus’ origins may be linked to our exploitation of nature’.
It is not clear exactly what he was referring to, but Covid-19 is said to have started in bats in Wuhan, China, before infecting humans – potentially via another animal.
The royal also revealed he ‘feels pressure’ to give children ‘the future they deserve’ in the note, adding: ‘We are currently living through an extinction crisis.’
Harry, 35, who is currently isolating in Tyler Perry’s £14million mansion in Beverly Hills, shared the letter with conservationist group African Parks in its annual report.
He wrote: ‘We are currently living through an extinction crisis, and now a global pandemic that has shaken us to our core and brought the world to a standstill.
‘On the extinction crisis the science is clear: we have perhaps a decade to course correct before we lock in our fate.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Archie at Cape Town in South Africa last September
‘On this pandemic, while much is still unknown, some evidence suggests that the virus’ origins may be linked to our exploitation of nature. The gravity of these challenges is coming to light, but we must not be paralysed by them.’
He added: ‘Since becoming a father, I feel the pressure is even greater to ensure we can give our children the future they deserve, a future that hasn’t been taken from them, and a future full of possibility and opportunity.’
Despite stepping back from royal life at the end of March, the Duke has been permitted to continue to work with his patronages and organisations like African Parks, which he became president of in 2017.
In the letter, which was shared online by royal reporter Omid Scobie, Harry commented on his connection with the continent, writing: ‘I have always loved wild places….[and] been grateful for what wild places provide.
The Duke at a tree planting event with schoolchildren at a reserve in Botswana last September
‘Since my first trip to Africa as a young boy, I knew I would keep returning to this continent if I could, for its wildlife, for its people, and for its vast expanse.’
He went on to urge readers to ‘not be paralysed’ by the challenges coming to light because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Harry also outlined the work African Parks has been doing to look after ‘some of Africa’s most embattled and vulnerable protected areas’.
He said these ‘are essential for the wellbeing of local communities and in safeguarding our global climate, but only if they are protected and functioning properly’.
The Duke of Sussex shared the note with African Parks as it released its annual report
Towards the end of the note, he explained: ‘I want us all to be able to tell our children that yes, we saw this coming, and with the determination and help from an extraordinary group of committed individuals, we did what was needed to restore essential ecosystems.’
Harry pushes four-year-old Mojabeng on her tractor during a visit to the Lesotho Child Counselling Unit in Maseru in July 2008
Harry was appointed president of African Parks, an conservation non-govenmental organisation that manages national parks and protected areas, in December 2017.
Harry, who visits Africa every year, visited the British Army’s partnership with African Parks in Malawi during his tour of the continent in 2019.
He has previously spoken about having a special affinity with Africa, the place he went ‘to get away from it all’ after the death of his mother Princess Diana, the place ‘where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world.’
He and his wife Meghan Markle, 38, voiced their desires to live on the continent on ITV’s Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, which aired in October and charted the pair’s ten-day tour in South Africa.
During the documentary, which was filmed six months before the couple moved to California, Harry said: ‘I don’t know where we could live in Africa at the moment.
‘We’ve just come from Cape Town, that would be an amazing place for us to be able to to base ourselves, of course it would.
Harry and Meghan visit a township in Johannesburg to learn about youth employment services
The couple are currently living in Tyler Perry’s £14million mansion in Beverley Hills, pictured
‘But with all the problems that are going on there I just don’t see how we would be able to really make as much difference as we’d want to.’
Harry also revealed Africa will be the main focus of his and Meghan’s work in the future.
He said: ‘The rest of our lives, especially our life’s work will be predominantly focused on Africa, on conservation.
‘There are 19 Commonwealth countries across this continent, there’s a lot of things to be done, there’s a lot of problems here but there’s also huge potential for solutions.’