Megan Markle and Prince Harry are getting ready to fly to New York City next week for the United Nations General Assembly in honor of Nelson Mandela Day on July 18.
And Harry, 37, is expected to serve as a keynote speaker at the humanitarian event.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex – who married in 2018 – have spoken out about honoring the late civil rights activist after meeting his widow, Graça Machel, in South Africa in 2019.
Their ties to the late leader were strengthened by Princess Diana’s loving bond with the activist before her untimely death in 1997.
Harry’s mother met Mandela several months before her death in Johannesburg, and the former president often praised her charitable work around the world.
Nelson Mandela Day was officially recognized in 2009 in celebration of Mandela’s legacy and has often served as a day for global humanitarian action.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to a visit to the UN, having been invited to the World Leaders Meeting last year.
Although they didn’t speak at last year’s event, Markle was previously the keynote speaker at the UN Women’s Conference on International Women’s Day in 2015.
It will be the first high-profile trip for the California-based couple, who resigned from their royal duties in 2020, since their very speedy trip to London to honor the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
The stay—made for the anniversary celebrations—marked the first time Lilibet, who was born in California on June 4, 2021, visited her father’s homeland. Her older brother, Archie, was born in the UK on May 6, 2019 and hadn’t come back since he was six months old.
The Queen met her eponymous great-granddaughter shortly after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle landed in London.
They attended Trooping the Color, although they were banned from viewing it in the Major General’s office with younger royal descendants and not appearing on the balcony.