The Duke of Sussex will be marking Nelson Mandela Day.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are officially returning to New York City next week, for a pretty important engagement.
The Duke of Sussex is scheduled to give a speech at the United Nations, for an informal General Assembly meeting on Nelson Mandela Day, 18 July. A spokesman for the UN told the Daily Mail: “The South African Mission has confirmed the participation of the Duke and the Duchess at Monday's commemoration.”
Although the Duke will be the one giving the speech, the Duchess will also be there to support him. This will be the Sussexes’ first public engagement since they made their discreet appearance at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last month.
The trip will mark the second time Harry and Meghan have visited New York in the past few months. Last time they were there, in September 2021, they most notably participated in the Global Citizen Live event, held to fight poverty and protect the planet.
They stopped by the United Nations building at the time as well, to listen in to a General Assembly meeting, but they didn’t actively participate in said meeting.
The Mail reports that Harry’s UN speech next week is likely to centre on climate change and world hunger, both causes that are close to his and his wife’s hearts.
Harry notably founded eco-travel non-profit Travalyst in 2019, and sustainable habits have been second nature for him since he was a child, when he would pick up litter he came across, on Prince Charles’ suggestion.
As for the Sussexes’ fight against world hunger, their non-profit Archewell announced a partnership with World Central Kitchen, a charity that provides meals for victims of humanitarian crises globally, in 2020, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
Earlier that same year, the royal couple also announced that they would donate the profits from the BBC broadcast of their wedding to Feeding Britain, an organisation which fights hunger in the UK, according to TODAY.
So if his speech does in fact revolve around these two important issues, we have no doubt he’ll have plenty to say about them.
