There they are! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were a must-see as they received the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award in New York City on Tuesday, December 6.
Meghan, 41, dazzled in a white off-the-shoulder dress with long sleeves by Louis Vuitton. The Suits paired chic look with a few small accessories – including Princess Diana’s famous aquamarine ring — and had her hair swept back into a low bun. Harry, 38, kept it classic in a black and white suit.
The couple were recognized for their work advocating for racial justice, mental health and other social causes through their Archewell Foundation.
“When the duke and duchess accepted our award laureate invitation back in March, we were thrilled. The couple has always stood out for their willingness to speak up and change the narrative on racial justice and mental health around the world,” Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said in a press release in October. “They embody the type of moral courage that my father once called the ‘one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.’”
Harry and Meghan are being honored alongside late NBA icon Bill Russell, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other “exemplary leaders.”
The couple arrived in the Big Apple earlier on Tuesday, with Harry sporting a white button-down shirt with black pants as Meghan donned an all-black getup.
The Sussexes’ east coast visit comes amid buzz surrounding their upcoming Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the first three episodes of which will premiere on Thursday, December 8.
The project is expected to be a riveting experience as the Suits alum and the Invictus Games founder have promised to tell the “full” truth about the many challenges they’ve faced since going public with their romance in 2016. (The lovebirds tied the knot in 2018 and share son Archie, 3, and daughter Lili, 18 months.)
In an explosive trailer released on Monday, December 5, Harry claimed that the palace planted negative stories about him and Meghan. “There’s a hierarchy of the family,” Harry told the camera. “You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories … It’s a dirty game.”
While the series has been met with excitement from fans, it appears to be unsettling for the royal family.
“This is really a punch to the royal family once again from [Harry and Meghan],” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, Dec 1. “I think it’s pretty hard [for the royal family] not to pay attention to this. … You can’t ignore it. It’s a constant noise for them and it’s something that they’d like to go away.”
The California native and the Spare author announced in January 2020 that they would be taking a “step back as senior members of the Royal Family.” The news shocked the world and strained the couple’s relationship with Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his wife, Princess Kate. (Author Robert Lacey claimed in a June 2021 Daily Mail op-ed that, privately, the siblings were “at each other’s throats as fiercely as ever.”)
Following their royal exit, Meghan and Harry moved to California, launched their Archewell Foundation and sat down for a bombshell CBS interview, during which Meghan revealed that she contemplated suicide due to heightened scrutiny she faced from the U.K. tabloids.