Prince Harry criticized freedoms in his new home, the United States, on Monday in a speech to the United Nations in New York City – where he warned of a “global attack on democracy and freedom”.
The fugitive British monarch was delivering a keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly in honor of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela when he referred to the United States as a cautionary tale.
“From the horrific war in Ukraine to the erosion of constitutional rights here in the United States, we are witnessing a global attack on democracy and freedom – Mandela’s life cause,” he said.
The Duke of Sussex continued: “This has been a traumatic year in a painful decade.”
“We live in a pandemic that continues to devastate societies in every corner of the world; climate change is wreaking havoc on our planet, with the most vulnerable suffering from it; the few, weaponizing lies and disinformation at the expense of the many.”
The Duke, 37, also called on world leaders to take climate change seriously, saying: “Water is rising all around us – in some places quite literally.”
“The right thing to do is not for debate, nor is science,” he said sarcastically. “The only question is whether we will be brave enough and wise enough to do what is necessary.”
Prince Harry made the remarks on the annual Mandela Day of the United Nations, The event was attended by his wife, Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle40.
The couple were outspoken defenders of Mandela’s legacy, celebrating the anti-apartheid fighter who rose to become South Africa’s first black president after spending 27 years in an apartheid state prison.
Harry called on world leaders to use Mandela’s legacy as inspiration at a “time of global uncertainty and division”.
Citing a message penned by Mandela in prison, the Duke said: “The freedom fighter’s hope is a swimmer’s life belt – a guarantee that one will remain afloat and free of danger.”
“How many of us are at risk of losing these life belts now?” Then he asked the assembled leaders.
The king also revealed that he keeps a picture of his late mother, Princess Diana and Mandela together.
“On my wall, and in my heart every day, is a picture of my mother and Mandela meeting in Cape Town in 1997,” Harry said.
He commented on the smile of the late leader in the photo.
“Here is a man who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, who has been asked to heal his country of the wreckage of its past and transform it into the future, a man who has endured the worst of humanity, fierce racism and the care of the state,” said Harry.
“However, in that picture and many more, he is still cheerful. I am still able to see the good in humanity. He still radiates a beautiful spirit that lifts everyone around him.”
The short trip to New York was the couple’s first high-profile trip in California Resigned from their royal duties in 2020since a brisk trip to London earlier this year to honor Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years to the throne.
The couple lives in Montecito, where purchased A modern nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom mansion for $14.65 million.
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