HAZ HIS SAY
Prince Harry wades into politics after arriving at UN with Meghan Markle amid rumours duchess wants to run for President
PRINCE Harry waded into politics in his keynote speech today amid rumours wife Meghan Markle is eyeing a run for the White House.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived hand in hand at the United Nations headquarters in New York this morning, where Harry marked International Nelson Mandela Day.
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As he spoke about the legacy of Nelson Mandela, Harry warned of a "global assault on democracy and freedom".
His remarks on politics come as rumours continue to swirl that Meghan has her sights set on becoming President one day as she repeatedly makes waves as a political activist.
She has joined forces with Gloria Steinem to get the Equal Rights Amendment ratified, and insisted she’s willing to march in Washington DC against the Roe v Wade abortion ruling.
Backing his wife's interest in politics, Harry today told of the dangers of climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, "weaponising lies and disinformation", the war in Ukraine and abortion laws in the US.
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The duke also spoke about his mother Diana, the Princess of Wales' meeting with the former South African leader in March 1997, and how he "sought solace" in Africa following her death.
He said: "This has been a painful year in a painful decade.
"We're living through a pandemic that continues to ravage communities in every corner of the globe; climate change wreaking havoc on our planet, with the most vulnerable suffering most of all; the few, weaponising lies and disinformation at the expense of the many; and from the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional rights here in the United States.
"We are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom - the cause of Mandela's life."
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Speaking about issues in Africa, the duke urged politicians across the world to "lead" despite "resistance from powerful interests".
Harry and Meghan arrived at the UN event smiling and holding hands, giving no response to a US reporter's question about biographer Tom Bower's latest book Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors.
Speaking about Diana, Harry said: "On my wall, and in my heart every day, is an image of my mother and Mandela meeting in Cape Town in 1997.
"The photo was presented to me by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whose friendship and inspiration were their own treasured gift. My wife and I had the honour of introducing our four-month-old son to him back in 2019.
"When I first looked at the photo, straight away what jumped out was the joy on my mother's face; the playfulness, cheekiness, even... pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity.
";Then I looked at Mandela. Here was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, asked to heal his country from the wreckage of its past and transform it for the future.
'PEACE AND HEALING'
"A man who had endured the very worst of humanity - vicious racism and state-sponsored brutality. A man who had lost 27 years with his children and family that he would never get back.";
Harry said he has "always found hope" in Africa, a continent where he "found peace and healing".
He added: "It's where I've felt closest to my mother and sought solace after she died, and where I knew I had found a soulmate in my wife."
When Nelson Mandela's death was announced in 2013, Prince Harry was trekking in the South Pole as part of the Walking with the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge.
He pitched the South African flag in his honour and has since met with Mandela's widow - most recently in 2019 with Meghan during tour of South Africa.
Meghan and Harry's appearance today comes just days after a bombshell new book claimed the Queen told her most trusted staff she was relieved Meghan did not attend Prince Philip’s funeral.
Author Tom Bower alleged Her Majesty, 96, told her aides on the day of the funeral: “Thank goodness.”
He has also written how some of Harry’s oldest pals clashed with Meghan Markle over her views – and concluded she had no sense of humour.
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The claims have been made in Bower's book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors.
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