Harry and Meghan: ‘Wrongs of past need to be acknowledged’, duke says

(Source: BBC News) – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken to young leaders about equal rights – with Harry saying the wrongs of the past need to be acknowledged.

Prince Harry and Meghan dialled into the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust weekly video call, which focused on responding to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Harry, president of the QCT, told them: “There is no turning back now, everything is coming to a head.”

His wife Meghan added that equality is a fundamental human right.

The duchess, vice president of QCT, said on the call: “We’re going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because it’s only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships.

“Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing – which is a fundamental human right.”

The couple, speaking from their Los Angeles home, said they had discussed the issues many times in the past weeks.

The duke said on the 1 July call: “When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past.

“So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do.

“It’s not going to be easy and in some cases it’s not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits.”

He added that “all of us have been educated to see the world differently” but that it was important to acknowledge unconscious bias exists and then “do the work to become more aware”.

On the call, they joined Chrisann Jarrett, co-founder of We Belong, which is led by young people who migrated to the UK; Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas; Mike Omoniyi, founder of The Common Sense Network, and Abdullahi Alim, who leads the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers.

Prince Harry joked he was “aging”, as a 35-year-old – prompting his wife to retort “that’s not aging!” – but that he felt optimistic about change when speaking to the young people.

“This change is needed and it’s coming,” he said. “The optimism and the hope that we get is from listening and speaking to people like you, because there is no turning back now, everything is coming to a head.

“Solutions exist and change is happening far quicker than it ever has done before.”

QCT has been running weekly discussions with young people, looking at different forms of injustice.

Prince Harry and Meghan kept their roles with the trust after stepping down as senior working royals earlier this year. As part of that move, he stepped down from his position as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.