On December 6, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation’s Ripple of Hope Gala in New York City to accept an award for their “heroic” stand against “structural racism within the US.” [royal] Institution.” The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at the event hand in hand and were greeted by a bevy of fans.
In November, Kerry Kennedy, the president of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation, told El Confidencial’s Vanitatis Magazine (via persons) that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have the “civil courage” in their fight against the British monarchy that their father spoke of in his famous “Ripple of Hope” speech in South Africa in 1966.
“He also spoke of civil courage and said that few would have the courage to question their peers, family and community about the power structure they perpetuate, and that’s exactly what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did,” Kennedy said. “They went to the oldest institution in the history of the UK and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution… They knew there would be consequences if they did, they would be ostracized, they would lose their family, their position within this structure, and people would blame them for it. They did it anyway… I think they took that step heroically.”
While the Sussexes were honored with the Ripple of Hope Award for such an important reason, that doesn’t mean the gala’s 1,500 attendees weren’t the subject of Prince Harry’s endearing dad jokes.
The Sussexes sat down with Kennedy to talk about their commitment to social change at the event, at which Harry joked he thought attending the gala was a “date night” for the couple. “To be honest, Kerry, I actually thought we were just going on a date night, so I thought it was kind of weird that we’re sharing the room with 1,500 people,” he said. “We don’t go out much because our kids are so small and young, so it’s totally unexpected. But it’s nice to share the date night with you all, thanks for coming.” Markle replied, laughing, “Thanks for bringing me to this very special date night.”
Prince Harry jokes he thought he was taking his wife to a “date night” at the Ripple of Hope Awards in New York City pic.twitter.com/bESLd3GJ9Q
– Evening Standard (@EveningStandard) December 7, 2022
Check out more photos of the happy couple on their date night at the Ripple of Hope Awards.