Prince Harry will be away from his Montecito home for eight days as he takes a solo trip around the East Coast and the UK, but clearly, his family has been on his mind during his visits.
On Monday, the Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared on stage in New York to discuss mental health and climate change with two young winners of a legacy award given in memory of Princess Diana.
But before taking to the platform, the King’s youngest son held a FaceTime video call with his wife, Meghan Markle, 43, and their children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, according to People Magazine.
The publication wrote that Harry reportedly showed his family around the room, giving them a brief tour of the hotel space before taking part in the 14th Annual Concordia Summit in support of the Diana Award.
“Backstage, he was calling Meghan. I thought it was really sweet and it helped humanize him,” Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, a Diana Legacy Award winner who joined Harry on the mental health panel discussion, told the publication.
Prince Harry will be away from his home in Montecito for eight days as he takes a solo trip around the East Coast and the UK, but clearly, his family (pictured) have been on his mind during his visits.
“He made sure we didn’t get nervous at all… He’s so kind. He not only helped us feel comfortable speaking on stage, but also comforted us afterwards,” the award winner added.
Harry, who cracked his knuckles and looked nervous as he sat on stage, spoke about the importance of mental wellbeing at the event, where attendees spoke about their climate anxiety.
He personally interviewed Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang from Indonesia and Christina Williams from Jamaica, who received the Legacy Award in memory of Princess Diana, joking: “For some reason they gave me the microphone to ask the questions.”
She told them: “I applaud you for having the confidence to stand on this stage. I know my mother would be incredibly proud of you. Your activism is true to how my mother lived her life.”
Harry, wearing a navy suit and tie with a Diana Award pin on his lapel, asked: “Do you feel like you are being listened to by leaders and people in positions of power?” adding that he wanted the Diana Award to help his campaign to tackle climate change and build influence around the world.
And when asked what gives him hope for the future, he said: “I’ve said it years ago and I’ll say it again. The younger generation is what gives me hope. The courage they have gives me hope.
“We all need courage to make a difference in this world, probably more than ever. We need to listen and act accordingly, because it is our future that will be stolen from us and that is unacceptable.”
The Duke of Sussex will be away from Montecito for the next eight days and on Saturday attended a charity event in California organised by Kevin Costner, without his American wife.
On Monday, the Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared on stage in New York to discuss mental health and climate change with two young winners of a legacy award given in memory of Princess Diana.
Harry interviewed Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang from Indonesia and Christina Williams from Jamaica, who received the Legacy Award in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Prior to his attendance at Monday’s event, Harry was seen greeting Queen Mathilde of Belgium, actor Forest Whitaker, several UN agency heads and other dignitaries at an event to honour survivors of childhood violence the night before.
Everyone is in New York for the UN General Assembly, which began Monday morning in Manhattan.
Officials from countries including Sweden, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Georgia, Canada, Iceland and Brazil, as well as survivors of child abuse, were also present to discuss this important topic.
Also present were high-profile figures including Whitaker and Shudu Musida, who, along with survivors, helped draft an open letter last week demanding urgent action from world leaders to end violence against children.
This comes ahead of the first Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence against Children, which will take place in Colombia in November.
Signatories of the letter include Harry, Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who was seen having a lengthy conversation with the Duke of Sussex and the actor during the event.
Prince Harry greets Queen Mathilde of Belgium during a high-level dinner on “Violence against children and its impact on mental health” in New York City with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the background.
The Belgian royal also addressed the crowd, urging more to be done to help children facing corporal punishment, bullying, online violence and sexual abuse.
Other forms of violence reported by the group include gang violence, child marriage and child labour.
Meanwhile, Meghan was nowhere to be seen, after defending efforts designed to stop online bullying earlier this summer.
The meeting came a day after Harry attended Kevin Costner’s charity concert solo at his beachfront estate across the country in California while Meghan was said to be “ill”.