Prince Harry and Meghan Markel paid tribute to the people of Ukraine as they accepted the President’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared on stage on Saturday to accept the award in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service.
As they accepted the award for their work helping a Texas women’s shelter, promoting vaccine equity and creating community relief centers, Harry first wanted to address the conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion this week.
‘We would like to acknowledge the people of Ukraine, who urgently need our continued support as a global community,’ he said.
The Duke added that he was grateful for being honored by the NAACP and that he and his wife were meant to be together to help others despite their supposed differences.
‘I think it’s safe to say that I come from a very different background from my incredible wife, yet our lives were brought together for a reason. We share a commitment to a life of service, a responsibility to combat injustice and a belief that the most often overlooked are the most important to listen to.’
Prince Harry (left) and Meghan Markel asked for the world to help support the Ukraine as they accepted the President’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday
Dozens of people have been reported dead in the Ukraine following the Russian invasion earlier this week. Ukrainian servicemen are pictured at a base in Kyiv
Russia continued to drop bombs in the city Kyiv on Saturday
The Duke and Duchess have often flaunted their union as that of a wealthy prince meeting a woman from humble beginnings, despite the fact that Meghan often enjoyed luxuries as a kid with her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Saturday’s ceremony is their first major Hollywood event since leaving the royal family as they rubbed shoulders with host Anthony Anderson and dozens of A-listers.
When receiving their award, Megan said: ‘I couldn’t be prouder that we’re doing this work together.’
‘We moved to California, my home state, shortly before the murder of George Floyd. For Black America, those nine minutes and 29 seconds transcended time, invoking centuries of our unhealed wounds.
In the months that followed, as my husband and I spoke with the civil rights community, we committed ourselves and our organization, Archewell, to illuminating those who are advancing racial justice and progress.’
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement that it was a thrill to honor Harry and Meghan for their work to support ‘equity both in the US and around the world.’
‘Not only do they continue to lead by example, The Duke and Duchess have also decided to inspire the next generation of activists through the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, ensuring the support and recognition of generations of civil rights leaders to come,’ Johnson said.
Throughout the pandemic, the couple’s Archewell Foundation has taken on many endeavors, including the promotion of COVID-19 vaccine equity and support for the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice.
Yet they had spent more money on legal fees for their charities than they actually raised in 2020, according to their legal findings.
Archewell reported to the IRS in December that it raised less than $50,000 in 2020 — only opening a bank account last January.
Harry said he and Meghan were destined to do good together as they accepted their award
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pose for photos with a group of third grade students during their visit to P.S. 123, the Mahalia Jackson School, in New York’s Harlem neighborhood in September 2021. The couple has made racial equity a key mission for their Archewell foundation, which only raised $50,000 in 2020
If the Sussexes raised more than $50,000 in 2021, they will be required to file more detailed accounts next December. Pictured: IRS Form 990 e-Postcard for Archewell
And documents for their UK charity Sussex Royal, which changed its name to MWX Foundation in 2020 and is currently being dissolved, show that between June 2020 and June 2021 spent more than $55,000 on legal fees including attorneys’ costs for wrapping up the nonprofit.
Meghan and Harry’s charities have been mired in controversy since their launch, revealing family divisions and were hit with a UK watchdog investigation and criticism over their use of opaque and secretive Delaware corporations.
UK Companies House filings show the defunct British charity had more than $380,000 in its accounts in 2020, and spent at least $55,600 on attorneys, including about $35,000 to Harbottle & Lewis and $20,600 to an unidentified law firm.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the 2021 Global Citizen Live festival at Central Park in New York on September 25, 2021
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex condemned the Russian invasion, in a statement published on their Archewell website
The Duke and Duchess had previously written on the website of their Archewell charity: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same.’
But the couple, who live in an $14.7 million mansion in Montecito, California, some 6,000 miles away from Kyiv, were criticized for a ‘breathtakingly arrogant’ statement and accused of ‘once again making this about them’.