Prince Harry joins forces with Joss Stone to watch a children's concert
Greeting the teenager with a warm hug, Prince Harry was reunited today with the boy he first took under his wing as a four-year-old orphan.
The royal first met Relebohile ‘Mutsu’ Potsane in 2004 when he visited the tiny landlocked African Kingdom of Lesotho as a 19-year-old Gap Year student.
The pair struck up an instant rapport and after years of staying in touch they were reunited there last November.
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Harry (centre back) joined songstress Joss at the Brit School in Croydon on Monday, where the Basotho Youth Choir were busy with rehearsals for tomorrow’s Sentebale Concert at Kensington Palace
Harry is given a hug from one young boy named Relebohile ‘Mutsu’ Potsane, who threw his arms around him in a spontaneous gesture, before handing him presents including art, framed photos and hand-written letters
But today they met again in very different circumstances when Harry surprised Mutsu and 11 of his friends during their first ever overseas trip to London.
Mutsu, now 16, travelled to the UK with a choir of five other boys and six girls, all helped by Harry’s Sentebale charity, to perform in a special fundraising concert headlined by Coldplay in Kensington Palace Gardens tomorrow evening (Tues).
The Basotho Youth Choir, made up of children and teenagers aged between seven and 19, was rehearsing with Sentebale Ambassador Joss Stone at the prestigious Brit School in Croydon, South London when the Prince popped in unannounced.
To gasps of surprise from the children, he walked in, hugging Joss and then making a beeline for Mutsu, hugging him and rubbing his head affectionately, asking him: ‘How are you? Are you well? Have you guys been having fun? London’s been looking after you?’
Mutsu appeared delighted to see Harry again and presented him with cards and gifts from Lesotho, including a small model of a traditional hut and a framed set of photographs of himself.
Clearly moved, Harry told him: ‘Oh sweet! Look at that. Look how small you were. Is the tree still there? ‘Do you remember the little pear tree?’
The concert is a cause close to both of their hearts; Harry co-founded the charity in 2006, while Joss is an ambassador
Harry and Mutsu (pictured in 2004, left) still write to each other, and last year, Sentebale released Mutsu’s latest letter (right), written to Harry shortly before the his visit to Lesotho in December 2014, to keep him posted on how he was getting on
The pair were spotted laughing and joking with the youngsters, who are visiting from Lesotho, a small, land-locked kingdom that Harry visited during his gap year
Joss practices with the youngsters ahead of Tuesday night’s concert
Harry and Mutsu were photographed planting a tree together in 2004 at the children’s centre where they met. ‘You still look the same, just a bit taller,’ added Harry.
Turning to the whole group, he said: ‘Thank you for coming all this way. Don’t be nervous, enjoy it, big smiles.’
As the choir started to sing for him, Joss called out: ‘There’s your note Harry.’ The blushing prince laughed and shook his head, saying: ‘It’s not happening.’
The prince looked causal in an open-necked pale blue shirt and dark chinos, while Joss wore a colourful patchwork camisole
Joss showcased her signature boho style with a pair of slouch boots, wearing her blonde curls loose
He appeared visibly moved as he listened to the choir perform two songs from Lesotho and smiled and danced along at times.
Again Joss urged: ‘Right Harry, your turn.’
‘No, it’s not my turn!’ he replied.
He asked the children: ‘Are you excited about tomorrow night? Lots of people, you’ll be fine. I’m probably more nervous than you are.
‘If you want to start freestyling, nobody is going to stop you.’
Joss said: ‘You have to lead by example Harry,’ to which he replied: ‘I learned years ago that I can’t sing.’
‘But you can break dance?’ she asked.
‘What? No! I can’t,’ he replied.
The Basotho Youth Choir is made up of boys and girls aged between six and 19, and the group will be joined on stage tomorrow night by Joss herself
The choir members have all been supported by Sentebale’s Secondary School Bursaries Progamme or Care for Vulnerable Children Programme
Harry set up the charity in 2006, after visiting the African Kingdom during his gap year two years earlier
Turning to the children he said: ‘Hopefully for you, Joss will know the words by tomorrow.’
Until last Thursday, when they arrived in the UK, the furthest the children had travelled was by bus to Pretoria, South Africa, to collect their visas.
Over the weekend they enjoyed a river cruise on the Thames and an open-topped bus sightseeing tour – arranged by Avios Travel Awards, which also paid for their flights.
None had been on a plane or boat before, nor had they tried British food.
Molise, 18, (Sentebale asked me not to use surnames), said: ‘It was my first time on a flight, my first time on a train and a double-decker bus. It’s the first time we’ve been in a hotel and the first time I’ve crossed Lesotho’s border.
Speaking to the MailOnline in 2014, Harry confessed that when Sentebale had started off he and his team were ‘pretending we knew what we were doing’ and mistakes had been made
Harry said: ‘It’s been an emotional rollercoaster but we’ve come out on top and all I’ve ever wanted to do was raise enough money to make a difference for Lesotho’
‘I like it very much. I’m so happy and next year I’m hoping I will come to study medicine here.’
Ntebaleng, 19, said: ‘I was so excited to see London and to travel by airplane.’
Unusually she complained that the weather here was ‘too hot’, having left Lesotho in winter.
But she added: ‘The fish and chips was so nice.’
She said of tomorrow’s concert: ‘I’m looking forward to it a lot, but I’m feeling a bit nervous.’
The choir spent two weekends rehearsing at Sentebale’s Mamohato Children’s Centre in Lesotho in preparation for the concert and have had two rehearsals at the Brit School, which has produced stars including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Rizzle Kicks and Katie Melua.
Harry said: ‘The great thing about Lesotho is that because it’s so small, you know that if you’re doing it wrong, it’s highly visible. And if you’re doing it right, you start to see the change’
Harry and Mutsu write to each other, and to mark the opening of the Mamohato centre last year, Sentebale released Mutsu’s latest letter, written to Prince Harry shortly before the his visit to Lesotho in December 2014
Joss, 29, said: ‘They’re doing really well and they seem to have got it down before I got here. I added one thing and honed in on a few bits and bobs, but they were fine.
‘They are doing two songs from Lesotho, which are amazing and I’ll sing with them.
‘When it’s on your doorstep it’s much more emotional and has a bigger effect – it will be harder to forget about.
‘It’s a nice trip for the kids – that’s the best thing. It’s brilliant that they are getting to go on holiday. It will be very exciting for them.
‘When I came up to see Buckingham Palace aged eight or nine, I will never forget that, and I’m English.
‘We are so blessed, we have a magical land of fairytaledom.’
Tomorrow’s concert will raise money and awareness of adolescents living with HIV
Speaking of his charity, Harry said ‘It’s been an emotional rollercoaster but we’ve come out on top and all I’ve ever wanted to do was raise enough money to make a difference for Lesotho’
The choir members have all been supported by Sentebale’s Secondary School Bursaries Progamme, which pays for school fees, uniforms and books for some of Lesotho’s most disadvantaged children, or the charity’s Care for Vulnerable Children Programme, which provides extra health and education support for those without family to care for them.
One in three children in Lesotho is an orphan, only one in five has access to primary education and more than half of the population lives in poverty.
The Sentebale Concert will raise funds to support the charity’s work helping vulnerable young people in Lesotho, including funding Sentebale’s monthly Saturday Clubs and residential weeklong camps at the newly-opened Mamohato Children’s Centre, which delivers psychosocial support to children living with HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.
The concert will also shine a spotlight on the current scale of the challenge facing charities like Sentebale, trying to support young people living with HIV.
Stigma, discrimination and a lack of education surrounding HIV/AIDs means that HIV is still the number one cause of death in 10 – 19 year olds in Africa.
Prince Harry joins forces with Joss Stone to watch a children"s concert
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