The Duke of Sussex will invoke the “memories and legacy” of Nelson Mandela on Monday when he addresses the United Nations on food security and climate change.
Prince Harry, 37, will be the keynote speaker at the annual event marking Nelson Mandela International Day in New York.
He will be accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, for what will be their first public appearance since they flew to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The Duke’s remarks “will be around the memories and legacy of Mandela and what has been learned from his struggle and his life that can help up face the new challenges in the world today”, according to South Africa’s UN mission.
The world still faces challenges that were there during Mandela’s life including racial intolerance, the divide between rich and poor, hunger and food insecurity, a mission diplomat said.
Since moving to the US, the Duke and Duchess’s Archewell foundation has worked closely with World Central Kitchen, building relief centres in areas affected by natural disaster, including Puerto Rico and Mumbai.
In 2009, the UN General Assembly declared Mandela’s July 18 birthday Nelson Mandela International Day in order to celebrate his life and encourage community and humanitarian action.
This year the Nelson Mandela Foundation is highlighting the plight of food security and climate change, urging people: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
The Duke was trekking in the South Pole as part of the Walking with the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge when he heard of Mandela’s death in 2013 and pitched the South African flag in his honour.
He has met Mandela’s widow Graça Machel more than once, most recently in 2019 with the Duchess during their tour of southern Africa.
The Duke’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales, met Mandela in March 1997, just five months before her death, during a private visit to his holiday home in South Africa.
The Duke was immediately drawn to a photograph of that meeting when he was given a guided tour of Mandela’s former offices in Johannesburg in 2015.
Verne Harris, director of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said: “He went straight to it when he walked through the door. He wanted to know when it was taken.”
Last September the couple met UN officials in New York during the annual gathering of world leaders.
In 2015, the Duchess spoke about gender equality at a UN conference on International Women’s Day.
