Prince Harry opens African charity building named after mother Diana

Prince Harry has spoken of the "gaping hole" losing his mother left him with as he attended the opening of an African care centre building which he named after Diana.

Prince Harry attended the opening of two new buildings at the Sentebale care centre in Lesotho.

He named one of the buildings after his mother Diana and also named the welcome centre after OIga Powell, his nanny, who died in 2012.

During his opening speech he said he felt an "overwhelming connection" to the children who had been "robbed of their childhoods" by extreme poverty and the ravages of HIV and AIDS.

The prince said when he first made a visit to Lesotho 11 years ago he was "struck by the many children I met whose lives had been shattered by the loss of a parent and in some cases both".

The £2 million Mamohato Children's Centre is a purpose-built home for the organisation's work with disadvantaged children and other youngsters living with HIV.

Lesotho's Prince Seeiso co-founded Sentebale with Harry in 2006, and the new facility is named after his mother, Queen Mamohato.

Prince Seeiso suggested Harry's commitment to the disadvantaged children of Lesotho was a legacy of the princess instilling in her sons the need to empathise with others less fortunate.

He said: "If we were born of privilege we should pay back to society in some way or another and this is why we started this project."

The new centre was officially opened by Seeiso's brother King Letsie III, Lesotho's monarch, who donated land for the project in the foothills of the Thaba Bosiu.

It will allow the charity to scale up its Mamohato programme, which addresses the emotional and psychological needs of children living with HIV.

It will also be used to support Sentebale's work with other vulnerable children, providing accommodation for up to 96 children and their carers, along with a medical block, workshop classrooms and a sports field.