Prince Harry invokes Princess Diana in UN speech marking Nelson Mandela Day

18 July 2022, 16:37 | Updated: 18 July 2022, 17:03

Prince Harry today invoked Princess Diana as he paid tribute to Nelson Mandela during a keynote speech at the United Nations.

The Duke of Sussex said: "We've come to know him [Nelson Mandela] through the photographs of a person who even when confronting unimaginable cruelty and injustice almost always had a smile on his face.

"For me, there's one photo in particular that stands out... 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.

"When I first looked at the photo, straight away what jumped out was the joy on my mother's face, the playfulness, cheekiness, even.

"The pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity."

Harry was the keynote speaker at the event, marking Nelson Mandela International Day.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen holding hands as they arrived at the UN General Assembly in New York earlier today.

It was the first time the couple have been seen publicly since returning to the UK last month for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

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Prince Harry added: "And then I looked at Mandela. He was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, asked to heal his country from the wreckage of its path and transform it for the future.

"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 his family that he would never get back. 27 years.

"Yet in that photo and so many others, he is still beaming, still able to see the goodness in humanity, still buoyant with a beautiful spirit that lifted everyone around him.

"Not because he was blind to the ugliness, the injustices of the world, no, he saw them clearly, he had lived them. But because he knew we could overcome them."

The Duke of Sussex also waded into American politics, slamming handling of abortion rights with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

Meghan had already told Vogue that Harry's reaction to the judicial decision last month was "guttural".

Prince Harry said: '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 right in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom the cause of Mandela’s life.'

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Harry added: "This has been a painful year in a painful decade. We are living through a pandemic that continues to ravage communities in every corner of the globe.

"Climate change wreaking havoc on our planet with most vulnerable suffering most of all."

This has been a painful year in a painful decade. We are living through a pandemic that continues to ravage communities in every corner of the globe.‘Climate change wreaking havoc on our planet with most vulnerable suffering most of all.

The couple were thanked for their "consistent advocacy around public service" as they arrived at for the Nelson Mandela International Day, held on the former South African President's birthday.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Guinea's Foreign Minister Morissanda Kouaté are among those attending the event.

Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis of Greece and Dr Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea will receive the 2020 UN Nelson Mandela award, a prize awarded every five years to people who have dedicated their lives to the service of humanity, at the event.