Prince Harry on Monday paid a tribute to Guardsman Matthew Talbot, a British soldier who was killed while protecting elephants from poachers at Liwonde National Park.

Speaking to the press after laying a wreath, Harry said he was ‘honoured’ to pay tribute to hero Matthew Talbot, 22, of the Coldstream Guards, in a moving ceremony on day eight of the royal tour of Africa.

Guardsman Talbot, died in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park on May 5, and was part of the British Army’s counter-poaching team, on his first operational deployment.

The patrol of armed British soldiers and African park rangers was walking through tall grass when they disturbed an unseen herd of elephants. One of them charged at Gdsm Talbot who died soon after from his injuries.

‘The Duke laid the wreath on behalf of the Talbot family, and said he was honoured to be able to do so, as he has worked closely with park rangers in these efforts and celebrates each and every one of them as heroes’ Kensington Palace said in a statement.

It added: ‘Often away from the public eye, many people are prepared to put themselves in harm’s way, in a bid to protect wildlife from poachers’.

The rangers fired shots and lit bangers to scare off the elephants but it was too late to save the soldier, who died shortly afterwards.