Meghan and Harry land in South Africa with Archie after commercial flight

Prince Harry and Meghan have arrived in South Africa for their first royal visit as a family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s arrival was delayed by roughly 40 minutes after their British Airways flight left the UK an hour late.

Their official tour, which will be the first with baby Archie Harrison in tow, will start this afternoon in Cape Town.

Among their first stops will be a visit to an initiative that teaches children about their rights, self-awareness and safety, and also provides self-defence classes to young girls.

Meghan and Harry are said to have brought numerous gifts with them for the tour – including several presents which were donated to them for four-month-old Archie.

All the gifts are expected to be presented to the charity mothers2mothers, who are dedicated to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV through education and support services.

The organisation works in eight nations across Africa including Uganda, Malawi and South Africa.

A source close to the couple said: ‘The Duke and Duchess were inundated with gifts for baby Archie from organisations and the general public.

‘They were incredibly grateful, but one little baby can only wear so many clothes and he’s growing fast.

‘So the duchess decided to bring a number of his presents to hand on to South African children and families most in need.

‘She’ll take a selection of clothes, books and pens to the mothers2mothers charity which help families with HIV.’

Meghan and Harry are visiting Africa from September 23 to October 2, and will split up for some parts of their stay.

Harry will leave his family to tour Angola, Malawi and Botswana, before they are all reunited in Johannesburg.

While in Angola, he will pay homage to the work of his mother Princess Diana by campaigning for landmines to be outlawed during a visit she made to the country in 1997.

He will also pay tribute to a British soldier killed by an elephant during anti-poaching operations in Malawi when he visits on September 30.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: ‘The Duke of Sussex’s love for Africa is well known.

‘He first visited the continent at the age of 13 and more than two decades later, the people, culture, wildlife and resilient communities continue to inspire and motivate him every day.’

Towards the end of the trip, the Sussexes will meet Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel and have an audience with President Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife Tshepo Motsepe.

This will be Meghan’s first visit to South Africa and the couple chose to disembark privately from their flight.

Earlier this year, they came under fire for using private jets four times in just 11 days, prompting public anger.

They were branded ‘hypocrites’ by some critics, having previously been very vocal in a number of campaigns to tackle climate change.

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