Since stepping down as senior members of the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have traveled to New York City on numerous occasions. Most recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in the city in May to attend the Lady Foundation’s 50th anniversary gala, after which their spokesperson said they were involved in a “near-disastrous car chase” with photographers.
Today, they are back in New York for the first time since that incident, to attend the Archewell Foundation’s first-ever in-person summit, scheduled to mark World Mental Health Day. They started their day with a visit Marcy Lab Schoola college alternative, in Brooklyn, New York.
For the occasion, Meghan wore a college letterman jacket, given to her by the Robert Clack School debate team during her visit in March 2020 on International Women’s Day. Accessorize it with Jennifer Chamande high heel shoes.
During the visit, Prince Harry told the students: “Everyone has their own story, their own reason for being here, and your life will continue to be full of complexities and challenges. If one of you starts to remain silent, and does not show up, you have to find out why. And remember to have fun! It should be fun.”
One recent graduate and now co-coach, Zohaev Manzoor, shared about their visit: “They were very humble, and were really listening to everything we had to say, and the questions they were asking afterward, and it really seemed like they were absorbing” the things we were saying. Our stories. They did a really great job with that. They were really positive, and you could see from their facial expressions that they were really excited to be there too, and had a lot of joy in them. They made me feel very welcome.”
Sussex with Robin Ogbonna and Maya Bhattacharjee Marcantonio.
Maya Bhattacharjee Marcantonio, chief program officer and co-founder of MarcyLab, paid tribute to the royal family after their visit. “I suspect [co-founder Reuben Ogbonna] “I feel very touched and grateful,” Bhattacharjee-Marcantonio said. “Marcy Lab has been a dream of ours and something we work hard at every day. To have their support not only financially and the investment they have made in Marcy, but also for them to take the time to come to campus is a generous act of just believing in us, believing in our students and our work.” “What we do…and so it was a very surreal moment to be able to have them here, and I think they’re both very grateful for it all.”
“For us as middle school teachers, we have these people who have literally seen the entire world to say we believe in what you’re doing, we believe in it enough to show up and be here. It’s a good dream,” Ogbonna added. “It will come true.”
Harry and Meghan with Marcy’s lab students.
This afternoon, Harry and Meghan are scheduled to take part in the Archewell Foundation’s Parents Summit alongside Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. It’s their first major public appearance since the end of the Invictus Games in Germany last month.
Emily Burak (She/Her) is Town & Country’s news writer, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royal family and a range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was deputy managing editor at Hi AlmaJewish culture website. Follow her @emburack on Twitter And Instagram.
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