Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are back in NYC Tuesday for the first time since claiming to be in a “near catastrophic car chase” caused by paparazzi.
The two visited the Marcy Lab School near Industry City, Brooklyn, a post-secondary school for students studying technology.
“Everyone’s got their own story, reason for being here, your life is still going to be filled with complications and challenges. And if one of you starts to go quiet, doesn’t show up, you need to find out why,” Harry told the group, which applauded.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due to chat with US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and “Today” show co-host Carson Daly‚ who has talked about his own struggles with depression‚ for the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit Tuesday to mark World Mental Health Day.
This afternoon’s summit, held at Hudson Yards and hosted by Project Healthy Minds, will focus on “building community and creating positive change for a safer online world for young people.”
It’s the Sussexes’ first trip to NYC following the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards in May, when Markle was honored — and after which, the couple’s spokesperson claimed, they were pursued by a “ring of highly aggressive paparazzi
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the rep said at the time. During the incident, which also involved Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, they ended up going into a local police station and jumping into a yellow cab.
But their claims were quickly quashed by NYC cops and Page Six revealed it was the Sussexes who personally decided to pose for the cameras as they left the event.
The two are set today to be part of a 25-minute panel that will focus on Mental Wellness in the Digital Age. Markle, 42, has told how her husband helped her reach out to a mental health professional when she was at her “worst point.”
Speaking on her podcast, “Archetypes”, last year, she said: “I mean, I think at my worst point, being finally connected to someone that, you know, my husband had found a referral for me to call. And I called this woman.
“She didn’t know I was even calling her. And she was checking out at the grocery store. I could hear the little beep, beep, and I was like, ‘Hi,’ and I’m introducing myself and that you can literally you’re going, wait, sorry. I’m just. Who is this? Um, and saying I need help. And she could hear the dire state that I was in,” Markle recalled. “But I think it’s for all of us to be really honest about what it is that you need and to not be afraid to make peace with that, to ask for it.”
And Harry, 39, said it was his wife who persuaded him to go to therapy to start processing the death of his mother, Princess Diana, on his Apple + TV show, “The Me You Can’t See,” saying: “It was meeting and being with Meghan, I knew that if I didn’t do therapy and fix myself, that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with,” he explained.
Meanwhile, across the pond, Harry’s estranged brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, also marked World Mental Health Day on Tuesday by hosting a forum for young people, called “Exploring our Emotional Worlds.” At it, Kate symbolically wore earrings given to her by Maidenhead Rugby Club coach Sarah Renton, whose daughter, Issy, tragically took her own life at the age of 17 earlier this year after struggling with depression.
