Why this special bracelet holds so much significance for Prince Harry

Prince Harry is well known for his relaxed royal attire - often sporting open-neck shirts and relaxed, faded jeans to his various work engagements.

And royal fans will be well aware that the Duke often likes to pair his outfits with an eclectic selection of jewellery pieces - many of which hold a special meaning for him.

However, there's one piece of jewellery which seems particularly important to the Prince - so much so, that he even wore it to his recent wedding to Meghan Markle.

Eagle-eyed fans will have spotted Prince Harry wearing a subtle silver bracelet, with some silver markings on it, on his wrist for almost the last 20 years. He is seen below wearing it in 2002.

And it turns out, the accessory is actually a poignant tribute to his mother - as he got it during his 1997 trip to Africa, soon after the death of Princess Diana.

Just days after his mum's passing, Prince Charles whisked his boys off to Africa - which now holds a special place in their hearts - to escape the media storm surrounding the family at the time.

In a previous interview, the Duke admitted, "I first came [to Africa] in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags — we were going to Africa to get away from it all."

It's thought that brother Prince William also has a very similar bracelet to Harry's - and that they both got them, or were given them, during their Africa trip.

The bracelet clearly still means a lot to the Prince, as he often wears it whilst out and about.

Harry opted to honour his mother by wearing it during his May 19th wedding to the now Duchess of Sussex, and has also worn it on a recent trip to Lesotho, the base for charity his Sentebale, where the Prince recently opened a new school.

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However, Harry's silver bracelet isn't his only meaningful piece of wrist wear.

He and his new wife Meghan appeared to confirm their relationship back in 2016, after eagle-eyed fans spotted that they were both sporting matching beaded blue bracelets.

On her now-deleted Instagram account, Meghan posted about visiting Soho Farmhouse in the UK - where she was wearing the bracelet. Around the same time, Harry also wore the bracelet on a visit to Nottingham.

Amy Hunt

Amy Hunt is an experienced digital journalist specialising in homes, interiors and hobbies. She began her career working as the features assistant at woman&home magazine, before moving over to the digital side of the brand where she eventually became the Lifestyle Editor up until January 2022. Amy won the Digital Journalist of the Year award at the AOP Awards in 2019 for her work on womanandhome.com.