Harry and Meghan to receive Kennedy award for fighting royal ‘racism’

The controversial move by one branch of the Kennedy clan to honor Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with a prestigious human rights award could further complicate the couple’s already fraught relationship with the British royal family following the revelation that they are being celebrated because they took a “heroic” stand against “structural racism” in the monarchy.

Kerry Kennedy, the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit named in honor of her late father, made this disclosure to the Spanish online publication El Confidencial, The Telegraph reported. Kennedy said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will receive the nonprofit’s annual Ripple of Hope award at a  Dec. 6 ceremony in New York because they had the courage to challenge the royal family’s “power structure.”

The ceremony’s timing also could highlight the bitter fallout between the Sussexes and the royal family. Four days before Harry and Meghan are due in New York to receive their Kennedy human rights prize, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be in Boston to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony — which happens to involve another branch of the Kennedy family.

The Earthshot Prize ceremony takes place at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, and Caroline Kennedy, the daughter or John F. Kennedy, will be there to help the Prince and Princess of Wales honor recipients of the global environmental award. William and his Royal Foundation created the prize, with inspiration from Kennedy’s famous 1962 “moonshot” speech.

It’s been reported in the U.K. media that the Prince and Princess of Wales are not likely to meet up with Harry and Meghan when they visit the the United States. The bitter fallout between the two couples goes back at least to when the Sussexes acrimoniously stepped away from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to become media moguls and global influencers. Relations between the two couples reportedly remains strained, even though they appeared together at the funeral and other events in September related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Those relations could grow even more strained if Harry and Meghan criticize the royal family in their Netflix docu-series, which begins streaming on Netflix in December, or if Harry airs further grievances about King Charles or other family members in his memoir, which will be published in January. It also can’t help the cause of healing family rifts if Harry and Meghan happily accept the Kennedy award, specifically for challenging his family on their “structural racism.”

According to The Telegraph, Kerry Kennedy recalled a visit her father made to South Africa in 1966, during which he spoke about the problems in getting people to talk about racial justice.

“He also spoke of moral courage, saying that few would have the courage to question their colleagues, family and community about the power structure they maintained,” Kerry Kennedy said. “And this is what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have done.”

It’s not clear how Kerry Kennedy believes Harry and Meghan took this “heroic” step, though she could be referring to the couple’s blockbuster March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. That’s when they made the incendiary allegation that a member of the royal family asked about the skin color of their future children.

“They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution,” Kerry Kennedy continued, according to The Telegraph. “They knew that if they did this there would be consequences, that they would be ostracized, they would lose their family, their position within this structure, and that people would blame them for it.”

“They have done it anyway because they believed they couldn’t live with themselves if they didn’t question this authority,” Kerry Kennedy said, The Telegraph reported. “I think they have been heroic in taking this step.”

But Kerry Kennedy’s revelation should add to the other drama swirling around this usually uplifting awards gala, which is being emceed by polarizing actor Alec Baldwin. The Ripple of Hope Award is designed to honor the world’s most “exemplary leaders across government, business and advocacy.” This year, Harry and Meghan are set to receive the award, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But the choice to honor Harry and Meghan also has stirred up rifts in the Kennedy family. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the prominent anti-vaccine crusader and Robert F. Kennedy’s second son, scoffed at the idea that the self-exiled royal celebrities were worthy of an award given in his father’s name. Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator, was assassinated in 1968 as he made his own bid to become president.

In comments to the Daily Mail last week, Kennedy Jr. said he was “bewildered” and “baffled” by the choice to give the Sussexes the same honor that previously was bestowed upon people with long and distinguished careers in public service or the arts, including Barack Obama, Joe Bidden, Hillary Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Robert De Niro.

Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. has been embroiled in fierce public battles with Kerry Kennedy, due to his leadership in efforts to discredit the use of vaccines to prevent common childhood illnesses and to protect people against COVID-19.

But Kennedy Jr. isn’t the only person of note to question Harry and Meghan as recipients. Kerry Kennedy’s announcement was immediately slammed by British historian and best-selling author David Nasaw, who called it “somewhere between sublimely ridiculous and blatantly ludicrous,” the Daily Beast and Daily Mail reported.

On “Good Morning Britain,” Nasaw, who penned a biography of Joseph Kennedy, the family patriarch, said: “If you look at the people who have been awarded the Robert Kennedy prize in the past — Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative), Bishop Desmond Tutu – and then you have to ask what are Harry and Meghan doing here?”

“What in God’s name have they done to merit this? What percentage of Harry and Meghan’s wealth is going to worthy causes?’” Nasaw said.

There’s been the suggestion that Harry and Meghan are mostly being honored for their star power and ability to drive ticket sales and donations to the organization, the Daily Mail said. Indeed, anyone willing to spend up to $1 million can buy a “Pioneer” package that will allow their party to sit at the same table with Harry and Meghan at the gala.

It’s also possible that some show business synergy has come into play with Harry and Meghan’s award, according to the Daily Mail. Kerry Kennedy’s sister, Rory Kennedy, runs a film production company with Liz Garbus, the director for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries. Rory Kennedy has not confirmed whether she had any role in deciding who should be honored, the Daily Mail.

The controversial move by one branch of the Kennedy clan to honor Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with a prestigious human rights award could further complicate the couple’s already fraught relationship with the British royal family following the revelation that they are being celebrated because they took a “heroic” stand against “structural racism” in the monarchy.

Kerry Kennedy, the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit named in honor of her late father, made this disclosure to the Spanish online publication El Confidencial, The Telegraph reported. Kennedy said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will receive the nonprofit’s annual Ripple of Hope award at a  Dec. 6 ceremony in New York because they had the courage to challenge the royal family’s “power structure.”

The ceremony’s timing also could highlight the bitter fallout between the Sussexes and the royal family. Four days before Harry and Meghan are due in New York to receive their Kennedy human rights prize, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be in Boston to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony — which happens to involve another branch of the Kennedy family.

The Earthshot Prize ceremony takes place at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, and Caroline Kennedy, the daughter or John F. Kennedy, will be there to help the Prince and Princess of Wales honor recipients of the global environmental award. William and his Royal Foundation created the prize, with inspiration from Kennedy’s famous 1962 “moonshot” speech.

It’s been reported in the U.K. media that the Prince and Princess of Wales are not likely to meet up with Harry and Meghan when they visit the the United States. The bitter fallout between the two couples goes back at least to when the Sussexes acrimoniously stepped away from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to become media moguls and global influencers. Relations between the two couples reportedly remains strained, even though they appeared together at the funeral and other events in September related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Those relations could grow even more strained if Harry and Meghan criticize the royal family in their Netflix docu-series, which begins streaming on Netflix in December, or if Harry airs further grievances about King Charles or other family members in his memoir, which will be published in January. It also can’t help the cause of healing family rifts if Harry and Meghan happily accept the Kennedy award, specifically for challenging his family on their “structural racism.”

According to The Telegraph, Kerry Kennedy recalled a visit her father made to South Africa in 1966, during which he spoke about the problems in getting people to talk about racial justice.

“He also spoke of moral courage, saying that few would have the courage to question their colleagues, family and community about the power structure they maintained,” Kerry Kennedy said. “And this is what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have done.”

It’s not clear how Kerry Kennedy believes Harry and Meghan took this “heroic” step, though she could be referring to the couple’s blockbuster March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. That’s when they made the incendiary allegation that a member of the royal family asked about the skin color of their future children.

“They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution,” Kerry Kennedy continued, according to The Telegraph. “They knew that if they did this there would be consequences, that they would be ostracized, they would lose their family, their position within this structure, and that people would blame them for it.”

“They have done it anyway because they believed they couldn’t live with themselves if they didn’t question this authority,” Kerry Kennedy said, The Telegraph reported. “I think they have been heroic in taking this step.”

But Kerry Kennedy’s revelation should add to the other drama swirling around this usually uplifting awards gala, which is being emceed by polarizing actor Alec Baldwin. The Ripple of Hope Award is designed to honor the world’s most “exemplary leaders across government, business and advocacy.” This year, Harry and Meghan are set to receive the award, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But the choice to honor Harry and Meghan also has stirred up rifts in the Kennedy family. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the prominent anti-vaccine crusader and Robert F. Kennedy’s second son, scoffed at the idea that the self-exiled royal celebrities were worthy of an award given in his father’s name. Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator, was assassinated in 1968 as he made his own bid to become president.

In comments to the Daily Mail last week, Kennedy Jr. said he was “bewildered” and “baffled” by the choice to give the Sussexes the same honor that previously was bestowed upon people with long and distinguished careers in public service or the arts, including Barack Obama, Joe Bidden, Hillary Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Robert De Niro.

Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. has been embroiled in fierce public battles with Kerry Kennedy, due to his leadership in efforts to discredit the use of vaccines to prevent common childhood illnesses and to protect people against COVID-19.

But Kennedy Jr. isn’t the only person of note to question Harry and Meghan as recipients. Kerry Kennedy’s announcement was immediately slammed by British historian and best-selling author David Nasaw, who called it “somewhere between sublimely ridiculous and blatantly ludicrous,” the Daily Beast and Daily Mail reported.

On “Good Morning Britain,” Nasaw, who penned a biography of Joseph Kennedy, the family patriarch, said: “If you look at the people who have been awarded the Robert Kennedy prize in the past — Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative), Bishop Desmond Tutu – and then you have to ask what are Harry and Meghan doing here?”

“What in God’s name have they done to merit this? What percentage of Harry and Meghan’s wealth is going to worthy causes?’” Nasaw said.

There’s been the suggestion that Harry and Meghan are mostly being honored for their star power and ability to drive ticket sales and donations to the organization, the Daily Mail said. Indeed, anyone willing to spend up to $1 million can buy a “Pioneer” package that will allow their party to sit at the same table with Harry and Meghan at the gala.

It’s also possible that some show business synergy has come into play with Harry and Meghan’s award, according to the Daily Mail. Kerry Kennedy’s sister, Rory Kennedy, runs a film production company with Liz Garbus, the director for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries. Rory Kennedy has not confirmed whether she had any role in deciding who should be honored, the Daily Mail.