The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will jet to New York next Monday where Prince Harry will give a keynote speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly for Nelson Mandela Day.
It will be the couple’s first official appearance since early June when they flew to the UK to attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
“The South African Mission has confirmed the participation of the Duke and the Duchess at Monday’s commemoration,” a UN spokesperson said earlier this week.
Prince Harry’s speech is rumoured to be based on the impact of climate change and world hunger.
Back in September 2021, the Sussexes appeared at the UN General Assembly, but neither addressed the gathering.
Harry and Meghan are said to be eager to honour the late South African icon after meeting his widow Graça Machel in Johannesburg in October 2019 during their royal tour.
“It’s wonderful meeting you. I’m sure we’re going to be working together in the future. I can feel the vibe,” Graça said when she met the couple at the time.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also met with Mandela’s grand-daughter Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela and his former cellmate, Andrew Mlangeni.
In 2019, Harry and Meghan shared a Nelson Mandela quote on their Instagram, writing in the caption: “Sharing a powerful quote to start the week.”
The quote read: “It is so easy to break and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.”
In 2015, prior to his relationship with his now wife, Prince Harry visited Mandela’s former prison cell in Robben Island, South Africa.
Nelson Mandela’s plight is extra close to Prince Harry’s heart as his mother Princess Diana famously met with him in Cape Town in March 1997, just five months before her death.
“We saw her sitting on the beds of AIDS patients and shaking hands with them, and that changed perceptions dramatically with regards to AIDS,” Mandela said Lady Diana’s efforts to help those with AIDS.