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TL; DR: 

  • Prince Harry’s U.N. speech took place on July 18, 2022, in New York. 
  • He gave the keynote address at the U.N.’s commemorations of Nelson Mandela International Day.
  • During his remarks, Prince Harry said a photo of Princess Diana and Mandela is on his “wall” and in his “heart every day.”


Prince Harry just got personal in a speech. When the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations, he mentioned a particular photo of his late mother, Princess Diana, and Nelson Mandela. Harry shared why it “stands out” to him, adding that it remains on his “wall” and in his “heart every day.” 

Prince Harry’s U.N. speech on Nelson Mandela Day 

Harry and Meghan Markle left their home in Montecito, California, and headed to New York on July 18, 2022. There Harry participated in the U.N.’s Nelson Mandela International Day commemorations. 

The 37-year-old delivered the keynote speech at an informal meeting of the U.N’s General Assembly. Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex sat in her seat offering “silent support.” Harry paid tribute to Mandela, who died in 2013 at the age of 95. 

In doing so, he touched on various topics, including climate change and the war in Ukraine. The father of two also made reference to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

According to Newsweek, Harry received an invite to give the keynote speech due to his ties to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. 

Prince Harry talked about a 1997 photo of Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela 

At one point during Harry’s U.N. speech, he recalled a photo of Diana and Mandela. Particularly a 1997 image of the two in South Africa.

“We’ve also come to know him 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,” he began.

He continued, saying the photo remains “on my wall and in my heart every day.” 

Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana shake hands in a photo referenced in Prince Harry's U.N. speech
Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana | Anna Zieminski/AFP via Getty Images

“When I first looked at the photo, straight away what jumped out is the joy on my mother’s face. The playfulness — cheekiness, even,” Harry said. “The pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity.”

Harry then described Mandela as “beaming” and “still able to see the goodness in humanity, still buoyant with a beautiful spirit that lifted everyone around him.” 

Desmond tutu presented the photo to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their 2019 tour of southern Africa

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Harry’s U.N. speech also provided one more detail on the Diana-Mandela image he referenced. Specifically, where he got the one that hangs on his wall. Harry told the audience South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu presented the photo to him and Meghan in 2019. 

They’d been on a royal tour of South Africa, Malawi, Angola, and Botswana when they met with Tutu. Also there for the visit was the couple’s now 3-year-old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. During the same royal tour, Meghan and Harry met with Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel. 

Following Tutu’s death in 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a tribute to their “friend.” 

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