Prince Harry has begun his trip to New York by attending a dinner hosted by the World Health Organisation with Queen Mathilde of Belgium and other dignitaries – but was not joined by Meghan Markle
Prince Harry has kicked off a trip to New York by having a run-in with royalty – but wife Meghan Markle was noticeably absent.
The Duke of Sussex has embarked on a solo trip to the Big Apple, where he is due to speak at several high-profile events that coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. On arriving in the city, he last night joined a dinner hosted by the World Health Organisation.
There Harry was seen rubbing shoulders with the likes of Queen Mathilde of Belgium and the Hollywood actor Forest Whittaker at the event to honour survivors of childhood violence. The dinner comes just hours after Harry was forced to make a solo appearance at a charity event on Friday, where Meghan was also noticeably absent.
Harry appeared solo at a charity event organised by Kevin Costner honouring first responders and presented an award to a fellow helicopter pilot. Harry attended the event last year, with many hoping his wife Meghan would join him for the 2024 event – the same as the previous year.
He spoke to the crowd at the Santa Barbara One805Live! annual event, which raises money for first responders across the county and in a suit but no socks, presented an award onstage to local helicopter pilot Loren Courtney at the start of the evening soon after he arrived at 7pm. He joked about how they both felt more at home behind the controls of a helicopter than onstage. Also performing at the event were Pink, 1980s star Richard Marx and Kevin himself.
However, a source at the event mysteriously said: “We were all hoping Meghan would attend like she did last year but the word is that she is sick and could not make it.”
During Harry’s stay in New York this week, he is set to appear at several major events. Later today, he will be at a summit organised by the Concordia organisation to talk about the Diana Award, named after his late mother Princess Diana, which honours young leaders.
Meanwhile tomorrow, he will appear at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. The Foundation was founded by former US president Bill Clinton and supported by his wife former US Secretary of state Hilary Clinton and their daughter Chelsea, with the theme of this year’s gathering of political, business and philanthropic leaders called “What’s Working”.
During his appearance at the meeting, Harry plans to discuss the launch of The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network, an initiative supporting parents whose children have suffered or died due to online harm. He will also address his nonprofit’s collaboration with the World Health Organization and others to end violence against children, an issue he and his wife Meghan outlined on their recent trip to Colombia.
However, one person Harry won’t be seeing in New York is his older brother, Prince William. Harry’s trip will also overlap with the 2024 Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, scheduled for Tuesday.
The Earthshot Prize is one of William’s key areas of work, and last year he was in New York for the 2023 summit. It led to speculation that the feuding brothers could awkwardly be in New York at the same time next month. But it has since emerged William is not travelling to the Big Apple later this month and had never planned to.
William did attend the summit in 2023 but his appearance at it in 2022 had to be cancelled as it came during a period of royal mourning after the death and funeral of the late Queen – although he did send a video message.
