Harry and Meghan meet UN chief in New York

NEW YORK: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited the United Nations in New York on Saturday to meet with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the world body’s annual gathering of leaders.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in New York to attend the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park, which aims to push for greater action to combat climate change and urge rich countries to share one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines with nations most in need.

The 37-year-old Harry and Meghan, 40, visited the city’s memorial for September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre. They were accompanied by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The couple quit their royal duties last year to build an independent life and moved from Britain to California, where they live with their two children – two-year-old Archie and Lilibet, who was born in June.

They have launched their Archewell Foundation as well as cutting lucrative deals for producing TV shows and a podcast. Last week the couple graced the cover of Time magazine’s annual 100 most influential people in the world issue.

World leaders returned to the United Nations over the past week with a focus on boosting efforts to fight both climate change and COVID-19. Last year leaders sent video statements for the annual high-level UN General Assembly instead of traveling to New York amid the pandemic.

Guterres also met with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on Thursday. She is Guterres’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.