'Don’t use trip to Africa for self-promotion': Prince Harry is warned against turning royal visit into publicity stunt by Namibian officials, says SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE
Warning: Prince Harry is currently in Namibia lending his efforts to tackle ivory poachers
Prince Harry’s fight to save Africa’s black rhino is hailed by conservationists, but down on the ground he has hardly been welcomed with open arms.
Having left the Armed Forces last month, the Prince is currently in Namibia lending his efforts to tackle ivory poachers.
The trip is part of a three-month grand tour which also sees him travel to South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana.
But while some might expect the Namibian government to be flattered by Harry’s attempts to help save its wildlife, the country’s Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, has warned against the royal trip turning into a publicity stunt.
‘Harry is not the first prominent person to visit Namibia and get involved with its conservation projects. We receive a lot of prominent people,’ he remarked at the weekend. ‘We appreciate this, but we don’t want it to turn into a public relations exercise.’
Shifeta, whose spokesman claimed the ministry wasn’t even aware of Harry’s arrival two weeks ago, also defended Namibia’s tolerance of so-called ‘trophy hunting’, the legal hunting of rare and endangered species.
In May, it was reported that Texan Corey Knowlton had shot a black rhino in Namibia after paying $350,000 (£225,000) for a licence at auction.
Although the practice has been attacked by The Tusk Trust, of which Harry is an active supporter, the minister claimed it generates millions each year for conservancies.
‘People need to understand that the hunting of these animals is totally legal,’ he added. ‘This is completely within the framework of our laws.’
Meanwhile, some corners of the Press have expressed cynicism about Harry’s trip. One columnist at The Namibian newspaper remarked: ‘Let us be honest: His Royal Highness is here for an adventure holiday. He or his visit will not save one single rhino. Sad but true.’
Stunt takes his convoy shopping
A fleet of blacked-out limos that would shame most tinpot dictators pulls into Bond Steet from which a posse of bodyguards emerge. It can only mean one thing: James Stunt is on a summer spending spree.
Stunt — whose largesse prompted his father-in-law Bernie Ecclestone to label him a ‘flash b******’ — emerges from Sotheby’s auction house after purchasing several paintings. Judging by his curiously polished look, wife Petra appears to have encouraged a new grooming regimen.
The Stunt motorcade is something of a London landmark. Last Thursday, the couple and their entourage arrived at Nicky Hilton’s pre-wedding bash in no less than seven vehicles.
Spending spree: James Stunt — whose largesse prompted his father-in-law Bernie Ecclestone to label him a ‘flash b******’ —emerges from Sotheby’s auction house after purchasing several paintings
The Stunt motorcade is something of a London landmark. Last Thursday, the couple and their entourage arrived at Nicky Hilton’s pre-wedding bash in no less than seven vehicles
Bedhopping tales about Omar Sharif, who died last week aged 83, are legion. However, sexpot actress Alexandra Bastedo, a former lover, said the Egyptian star was no gentleman. Before her death last year, she told me: ‘I went to Paris with Omar for a romantic weekend. Peter Sellers brought a girlfriend along, too. Shortly after we arrived at the hotel, Peter and I went for a walk on the Left Bank. When we returned, we found Omar and Peter’s girl in bed together. We had only been out five minutes. When it came to seduction he wasn’t one to waste any time. Peter and I packed our bags and left them to it.’
Poodle-permed rocker Brian May says he ‘hates’ David Cameron’s stance on bloodsports, but there is at least one Tory on his Christmas card list.
According to the register of members’ interests, the Queen guitarist has donated £5,000 to the office of sports minister Tracey Crouch, whom he describes as ‘a magnificent person’. Why the love-in? Crouch is due to rebel against the Government’s vote to relax the fox-hunting ban on Wednesday.
Lady V happy for her brother to claim keys to the castle
Despite being the eldest of the Duke of Rutland’s five children, Lady Violet Manners will not inherit the title.
Nor will she get her paws on the family’s sumptuous seat, Belvoir Castle. Thanks to our (surely outdated?) laws of primogeniture, her brother Charles, 16, will get the whole kit and caboodle. Doesn’t that stick in the craw?
‘In all honesty, I’m quite old-fashioned. Because I was born at a time when it wasn’t the case that first-born girls could inherit, I’d rather it stays like that for me,’ Lady V, 21, tells me diplomatically.
‘A lot of my friends in similar situations would say the same.
‘It’s a generational thing — our parents and grandparents are still stuck in that post-war era and I’m a product of that way of thinking. I love it.’
Despite being the eldest of the Duke of Rutland’s five children, Lady Violet Manners will not inherit the title
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