Princes join charity bike rally

The Royal pair hope to raise £250,000 for three charities

Princes join charity bike rally
Princes William and Harry have set off on a 1,000 mile motorbike rally across South Africa for charity.

The Royal pair are joining 80 other people racing from Durban to Port Elizabeth over eight days in the gruelling Enduro Africa 2008 event.

They aim to raise £250,000 for Unicef, Harry’s charity Sentebale and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

Prince Harry told the BBC that he and his brother viewed the trip as “hugely important” to help the charities.

The rally will be seen as a real test of endurance for the princes.

This is the second time they have joined forces to raise money for charity since they staged the Concert for Diana last year in memory of their mother.

Before they set off they told the BBC they had done no specific training for what is billed as one of the most gruelling off-road bike routes and they were expecting to “fall off every day”.

Prince Harry called the experience, which takes in many of the places where former South African president Nelson Mandela grew up, “hugely important”.

“It’s not just about riding bikes, the charity side is hugely important for my brother and I, ” said Prince Harry.

“Just to get a chance to go through this part of Africa is amazing. We’re just sorry Nelson Mandela is not joining us,” he added.

They both praised the work of the Enduro group, which they said had raised almost £1m over the past three years for the charitable causes favoured by the princes.

“The pain of spending a week with my brother is well worth it,” Prince William joked.

Rachel Ward, from the Nelson Mandela children’s fund, told BBC Five Live the teams were well prepared.

“We’re delighted that they’re drawing attention to the work that we’re all doing for children in South Africa,” she said.

Source
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7677524.stm