Shortly after arriving at New York City’s United Nations headquarters hand-in-hand with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry gave his wife a shoutout during his speech honoring the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.
In his address, the Duke of Sussex spoke about a photo of Mandela and his late mother, Princess Diana, which he says remains “on my wall and in my heart every day.”
“When I first looked at the photo, straight away what jumped out is the joy on my mother’s face. The playfulness—cheekiness, even,” Prince Harry said. “The pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity.”
He continued, “[Mandela was] still able to see the goodness in humanity, still buoyant with a beautiful spirit that lifted everyone around him. Not because he was blind to the ugliness, the injustices of the world, no. He saw them clearly. He had lived them. But because he knew we could overcome them.”
Since turning 13, Prince Harry has made several trips to Africa and has described the continent as “my lifeline” and “a place where I found peace and healing time and time again.” He added, “It’s where I felt closest to my mother and sought solace after she died, and where I knew I had found a soulmate in my wife.”
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began dating in the summer of 2016 after being introduced through a mutual friend. In their first joint interview after their 2017 engagement, the prince revealed that the pair took a trip to Botswana after just two “back-to-back” dates in London.
“I managed to persuade her to come and join me in Botswana. We camped out with each other under the stars. She came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic,” Harry said at the time, per . “So then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to know each other.”
Not only have the pair returned to Africa since their original Botswana trip, a source told that Markle recreated the magical moment for his 35th birthday in September 2019. “Last year, for Harry’s birthday, Meghan recreated their Botswana camping adventures in their backyard,” the source said. “It’s a place that means so much to them—and to Harry in particular—so Meghan wanted to bring that happy place to him on his day so she set up a tent, got sleeping bags, cooked dinner, and recreated Botswana where they fell in love.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have come a long way since their early days in 2016. The happy couple currently live in Montecito, California, with their two children: three-year-old Archie and one-year-old Lilibet Diana.
