Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's PDA Becomes Viral Hit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's touching public display of affection has won praise online after footage from the couple's visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York City in 2022 has resurfaced on social media.

Harry and Meghan will celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary on May 19 and have often been praised for both their spoken and apparent physical affection for one another in public. Since 2020, the couple have lived in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Since their widely publicized split from the monarchy and move to the U.S., Harry and Meghan have forged working roles for themselves as philanthropists and entertainment industry professionals.

Though they lost their royal patronages in Britain as part of their exit negotiations from the monarchy, Harry and Meghan have retained some formal and informal ties with charities and foundations around the world.

In July 2022, the prince was invited to speak at the United Nations during a session celebrating Nelson Mandela International Day. The royal was accompanied to New York by Meghan, where the couple were photographed walking into the chamber hand-in-hand.

Uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) by user, @VanessaNguyen28, footage of the couple seated before Harry's keynote address in the chamber has become a viral hit, gaining over 4 million views in less than 24 hours.

In the clip, Harry is seen placing his hand touchingly on his wife's knee as she returned the intimate gesture by holding his arm in hers.

Captioned "Still not over that man doing this at the United Nations. And Meghan's smile like IKTR [I know that's right]," the X post has received in excess of 12,000 likes and over 100 comments, many of which have praised the couple and their affection in public.

"I love how he places his hand on her knee as he looks back. still letting her know he is protecting her ! I love them," wrote on user.

"He really did all that...He loves himself some Princess Meghan," posted another, with a further comment reading: "I love that for them."

During his U.N. speech, Harry paid tribute to three important figures in his life. The first being the event's namesake, Nelson Mandela, whose work and legacy the prince said serves as an inspiration to himself and others.

The second figure was his mother, Princess Diana, who died in 1997. Harry visited Africa with his father soon after his mother's death, a trip he said helped him feel close to her.

And the third figure was Meghan. Discussing Africa, the prince referred to a vacation he spent with her in Botswana soon after they started dating.

"Since I first visited Africa at 13 years old, I've always found hope on the continent. In fact, for most of my life, it has been my lifeline, a place where I have found peace and healing time and time again," he said in his speech

"It's where I've felt closest to my mother and sought solace after she died, and where I knew I had found a soulmate in my wife.

"And it's why so much of my work is based there. Because, despite continued hardship, there are people across Africa who embody Mandela's spirit and ideals—building on the progress he helped make possible."

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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