Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will ‘begin their New York adventure TODAY’, says biographer

1.4k

View
comments

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be in New York today to hold a meeting with the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are making their first public trip since moving to California last year, will join the mayor and the Governor of New York Kathy Hochul at the One World Observatory. 

The observatory is located on floors 100-102 of the One World Trade Center, which is America’s tallest building and the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex.

When in New York, Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, will also broadcast from Central Park for the Global Citizen Live event on Saturday, as they ‘continue their urgent work with world leaders in the pursuit of global vaccine equity to end the COVID-19 pandemic for everyone, everywhere,’ said the organisation’s website. 

The outing marks the first occasion the duo have appeared in public together since stepping back from royal duties and moving to California last year. It’s thought they won’t be taking their children, Archie, two, and Lilibet, three months, to the events.

It comes as Harry today welcomed Google into his Travalyst sustainable travel initiative in a move that will raise eyebrows given his vocal criticism of big tech. 

The Duke of Sussex has previously slammed US technology giants as ‘incredibly powerful and consolidated gatekeepers’ and criticised disinformation being spread on social media about issues like climate change.  

Travalyst said partnering with Google, which also owns video sharing site YouTube, was a ‘significant step forward’ as it praised the firm for its ‘commitment to helping consumers make more sustainable travel choices’.

Following the storming of the US Capitol in January, Harry criticised social media companies for their ‘hands-off’ towards disinformation. YouTube itself has repeatedly come in for direct criticism from researchers for hosting falsehoods.

During today’s visit, Harry and Meghan will meet Mr de Blasio and his wife, the first lady of New York, writer and activist Chirlane McCray, and their son Dante de Blasio. 

One World Trade Centre was built on the site of the original twin towers and the trip comes just two weeks after the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. 

In May, the Sussexes acted as Campaign Chairs of Vax Live, which ‘aims to inspire vaccine confidence worldwide and help get the COVID-19 vaccines to everyone, everywhere’ – according to Global Citizen.  

Saturday’s event will be part of a number of shows being held in cities as varied as London to Lagos by the organisation, with artists like Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Metallica and Coldplay scheduled to perform.

The Global Citizen Live campaign is calling on G7 countries and the European Union to share at least one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses with those most in need and support calls for a waiver on vaccine intellectual property rights.

It also marks the return to work for the Duke and Duchess, who have taken several months off following the birth of their daughter Lilibet in May. 

Meghan has previously made several high profile trips to New York to visit friends  in recent years.

The Duchess celebrated the impending birth of her firstborn son Archie by flying to the Big Apple by private jet in 2019, provoking outcry with the five-day baby shower celebration. Around 20 friends attended, including Serena Williams and Amal Clooney. 

Months later, she visited the state again for a flying trip away to support her close friend Serena Williams in the US Open final.

It’s far from the first time that the couple have spoken out about vaccine equity.  

Harry had his name in lights as he was greeted with wild cheers and a standing ovation by a rapturous crowd during a speech at a Global Citizen star-studded concert in Los Angeles in May, while his then heavily pregnant wife Meghan stayed at home.

The royal told the audience of vaccinated frontline workers ‘every single one of you are awesome’ before urging them to ‘look beyond ourselves’ as he joined A-list Hollywood celebrities at Vax Live – an initiative to encourage rich countries to share vaccines. 

Harry delivered a five-minute address calling for vaccines to be shared with poorer countries, which was regularly punctuated by more rapturous cheers.

Speaking in a markedly different accent than his previous Queen’s English, Harry said: ‘We must look beyond ourselves with empathy and compassion for those we know, and those we don’t. We need to lift up all of humanity and make sure that no person or community is left behind.’ 

To mark their son Archie’s second birthday in May the couple appealed to well-wishers wanting to celebrate the anniversary to donate money to pay for Covid vaccinations in disadvantaged countries. 

The Sussexes said in a statement earlier this year: ‘Over the past year, our world has experienced pain, loss and struggle – together. Now we need to recover and heal – together. We can’t leave anyone behind.

‘We will all benefit, we will all be safer, when everyone everywhere has equal access to the vaccine.

‘We must pursue equitable vaccine distribution, and in that, restore faith in our common humanity. This mission couldn’t be more critical or important.’ 

Global Citizen describes itself as a movement of ‘engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty by 2030’.

Its website states: ‘Global Citizens learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty, take action on those issues, and earn rewards for their actions — as part of a global community committed to lasting change.’

‘Their mission is to build a movement of 100M action-taking Global Citizens to help achieve our vision of ending extreme poverty by 2030.’

The appearance from the royal couple comes after they graced the cover of Time magazine as they were named among the world’s 100 most influential people.

Prince Harry and Meghan said they were ‘humbled’ to be the cover stars of Time magazine’s 2021 list in a feature that includes an ‘awkward’ photoshoot and a gushing tribute from a friend who praises them for ‘giving a voice to the voiceless’ and ‘running toward the struggle’ rather than living a quiet life in their California mansion.

The US publication released a glossy and heavily-airbrushed cover on Harry’s 37th birthday showing the Duke of Sussex stood behind his wife with his arms on her right shoulder in the ‘icons’ section of the annual line-up alongside Naomi Osaka, Dolly Parton, Britney Spears and Alexei Navalny.

One critic claimed the cover photo reflected the power dynamic in the relationship, because Meghan is in front of her husband, tweeting: ‘Wow, this photo speaks volumes. There is no hiding who’s in control’.

But Time’s picture editor, Dilys Ng, who made the final decision on the cover image, said the portrait captures the Sussexes’ ‘powerful dynamic as equal partners’.

The couple responded to being named on the list of the world’s most distinguished people with a post on their Archewell website that read: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are not only humbled to be part of this year’s TIME 100 through the words of friend and partner José Andrés, but to also write in praise of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the publication’s annual list of Most Influential People.’

The glossy photos of the Sussexes are accompanied by a profile, branded sycophantic by critics, written by their friend and chef Mr Andrés, whose charity World Central Kitchen is loved by the Sussexes and supported financially by their Archewell foundation in India and the Caribbean.

He wrote: ‘In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the duke and duchess have compassion for the people they don’t know. They don’t just opine. They run toward the struggle.’ Mr Andrés said the couple are ‘blessed through birth and talent, and burned by fame’, adding: ‘It would be much safer to enjoy their good fortune and stay silent. That’s not what Harry and Meghan do, or who they are’.

On the cover Harry is dressed in all black and Meghan in all white on a terrace at their $14.65million mansion and then in green smiling at eachother and holding hands while walking through their estate in Montecito, California.

In another image they are in matching grey office-style clothes next to a window in outfits chosen by celebrity stylists Clare and Nina Hallwroth, who have recently dressed Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, in pictures taken by Serbian Pari Dukovic. But one critic, a fellow photographer, tweeted: ‘Terrible retouching job. They look CGI’.

Others wrote: ‘This photo looks photoshopped. Also, the way they are positioned is very revealing: it’s the Meghan show and Harry is just the supporting actor’. One critic said: ‘Harry looks completely awkward peering behind his wife like this’.