Prince Harry spoke much of his mother, Princess Diana, who met Nelson Mandela in 1997, during his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly in New York City. A photo of the encounter always hangs on his “wall and in his heart”. But not only the speech was remarkable.
New York – In his speech, Prince Harry (37) spoke about his love for the continent, which he first visited when he was 13 and explained that after the death of the Princess of Wales (36, † 1997 ) sought consolation there. His wife Meghan Markle (40) and he had previously entered the building holding hands. Harry spoke of her as his soul mate. His speech followed the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, who met Nelson Mandela (95, † 2013) – a photo of the meeting became the starting point for Harry’s speech.
The photo of Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela gets under Harry’s skin
“When I first looked at the photo, I was immediately struck by the joy on my mother’s face, the playfulness […] of meeting another soul so dedicated to the service of humanity,” he said Duke of Sussex. The photo was given to him by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu (90, † 2021), whose friendship and inspiration were precious gifts. Meghan and he had the honor of introducing him to their then four-month-old son Archie (3) in 2019, two years before his death.
The General Assembly established July 18 – Mandela’s birthday – as the international day to commemorate him. Active charitable activities can be promoted there, Mandela’s life and work should be appreciated, but also continued. With the active support of Meghan, Prince Harry had applied in advance to get a place to speak at the two-hour meeting in front of the delegates on his topics of climate change and poverty.
In Meghan he would have found his soul mate, the prince said of his wife
Instead of sterile words, Harry’s speech was filled with emotion: the 1997 photo of Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela stuck on his “wall and in his heart,” he said. The 37-year-old Duke also revealed that during his visit to Africa he “knew he had found a soulmate in Meghan Markle”. On their third date, the grandson of British Queen Elizabeth II (96) kidnapped Meghan to Botswana and later made her the mother of his two children.
It is the first time the couple has been seen in public since the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations took place in early June. The entire Sussex family of four traveled to London to attend the spectacle. The two ex-senior royals always stayed in the background, except for attending the thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Sources used: dailymail.co.uk, Instagram
