S Poddar
The Princess of Sussex was in New York recently to attend an event during Climate Week, where she had the added coincidence of sitting next to her cousin, Prince Harry. Both royals were in the city to support causes near to their hearts, but they seemed to be following different paths as tensions simmer within the Royal Family. Beatrice’s mother, Sarah Ferguson, accompanied her on the visit, with Prince Harry arriving alone.
Prince Beatrice’s visit centered around lunch The Anti-Slavery Collective, a charity co-founded by the royal sister and her sister Princess Eugenie, co-hosted. The Collective campaigns to end modern slavery and human trafficking, causes York sisters have been dedicated to for a long time. It fell in Climate Week and was held with some of the biggest partners in the sector, including former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and her Global Commission on Modern Slavery.
Anti-Slavery Collective shared pictures of Beatrice’s participation on social media, such as a snapshot of her addressing the meeting at lunch. Her post on Instagram read: “Day 2: NYC Climate Week.”. Yesterday, TASC co-hosted lunch at the @goalshouse with good friends @hpe @theresamay and her Global Commission on Modern Slavery, and Lisa Kristine’s @humanthread Foundation. Charity cited she was one of the largest reasons so seek to find solutions to the world’s most difficult global challenges, bringing decision-makers and influencers from different sectors to create new ideas for solutions.
The post continued, “We believe that thinking about and debating complicated, knotty issues is a vital part of the process. Gathering with decision-makers from all walks of life and creating a judgement-free space to share ideas, offer different perspectives, and tell stories helps us to reconnect with why this work is so important.” This proved the mission of the Collective: bringing together all people in an effort to find ways to tackle the modern-day slavery crisis.
Beatrice has been evident in such causes, and her appearance at this event in New York further goes to state her dedication to advocacy and philanthropic work. Although she spends relatively less time in the public as much as the other royals, one can tell what she does in humanitarian causes. The other British royal family member at the event was Sarah Ferguson, mother to Princess Beatrice. Fergie, the pop singer, has seen her fair share of high and low media attention with Britain, but the reality that she celebrates the fact that such initiatives are run by her daughters underlines the closeness of the York family.
Beatrice’s visit comes in the backdrop of Prince Harry’s separate visit to the city where he was separately undertaking engagements. While both royalty visited for a different purpose, as in the case of Harry who spoke during his visit while in fact keeping on being in the spotlight as he gave a speech after announcing his quit from the royal family, his individual scheduled attending different events without Meghan Markle has raised questions about what is to come in the life of the couple in public.
There wasn’t any confirmed meeting of the princess Beatrice and Prince Harry when they were in the city as speculations and rumors were going around. Their separate appearance for events is only fueling their rumors about rift within the royal family. The relatively neutral princess Beatrice till date has kept abreast with public eye neutrality by saying nothing on tensions between Harry, Meghan, and other family members. Attending such events with her mother, however, has the impression that she is devoted to her humanitarian activities away from the drama of the royalty.
On the other hand, the visit of Prince Harry has more rhetorical value through his speech and engagements, which almost gave an impression of a political visit. Whereupon there are royal experts quite quick to state that Harry is becoming increasingly entrenched in the public life of America with Meghan. At least, this positions the couple as important figures in the U.S., turning away from what would otherwise be the traditional line of work in the U.K. Some have noted that Harry and Meghan are creating some new identity, even American royalty, perhaps.
According to one royal expert, “Prince Harry’s moves represent someone carving out a new path. His speeches and initiatives indicate very clear desires to shape his own image separate from the Royal Family, particularly following his memoir release.” This opinion follows the expert view that Harry is trying to rehabilitate his image following a series of publicized challenges in recent years.
While Beatrice holds a rather low profile yet is profoundly influential, Harry’s way has been far more public and scrutinized. Whether their causes may converge or even diverge in the near future, it is certain that both are making their way through some very murky waters of royal life, but with very different elements attached: Beatrice in anti-slavery causes and Harry through philanthropy and human rights movements on a global level.
Royal watchers will no doubt keep close tabs on both of their activities, especially as rumors about the ongoing family feud continue. In fact, barring direct relations as siblings, the sheer fact that Beatrice is visiting New York underlines the seriousness with which she maintains humanitarian causes she is passionate about, even in the face of the ongoing rumors of royal rifts.
