Prince William honoured his late mother, Princess Diana, in a moving speech for the 25th anniversary of the charity, awarding young talent for their contribution to society in central London.
Although his younger brother, Prince Harry, could not be present at the event, he made an appearance virtually from his home in California. He greeted enthusiastic fans and thanked them for “protecting” his “mother’s legacy”.
But in a shocking move, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made two announcements that clashed with the award ceremony.
On March 14, Meghan Markle launched her new, long-awaited, lifestyle brand ‘American Riviera Orchard’ in the same hour Prince William arrived at the Diana Legacy Awards at the Science Museum.
In a double whammy of announcements, the Sussexes also revealed the winners of their NAACP Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award while William was still speaking and handing out awards.
Prince William spoke at the event: “This evening’s Legacy Award is particularly special as it marks the 25th anniversary year of The Diana Award, a charity set up to reflect my mother’s belief that young people can change the world.” He added that she taught him that “everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life”.
The Sussexes’ timing of their news to coincide with the Diana’s awards has been questioned by royal experts, with Richard Fitzwilliams telling MailOnline “the Sussexes in my opinion do nothing by accident”.
On Thursday, Harry and Meghan also paid a surprise visit to the winner of the NAACP – Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award.
The Sussexes announced the £78k ($100,000) grant would go to artificial intelligence champion Dr. Joy Buolamwini, who they say overcame sexism and racism in her field.
Dr Buolamwini, a computer scientist and digital activist, formed the Algorithmic Justice League to examine biases towards women and people of colour from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the grant should help fund her work.
In a video posted onto the Archewell Foundation website, Meghan, 42, and Harry, 39, can be seen personally delivering the news of the win to Dr Buolamwini with Meghan congratulating the academic with a hug.
Meghan also dropped her long-awaited lifestyle brand release which was revealed to be titled ‘American Riviera Orchard’. An uploaded Instagram story on the page shows the Duchess of Sussex picking flowers and also cooking in a kitchen in a big reveal.
However, royal fans online remain confused as to what the brand is trying to sell or be.
One X user writes: “What exactly is it? A hotel? Wine label? Restaurant? Blog? Fashion label? Very confusing name.”
Music by an artist called Nancy Wilson – a song called I Wish – plays over the footage which has been given a filter to give it a vintage feel.
In less than a day, and at the time of writing, Meghan’s Instagram account has gained 339k followers. The account so far, is not following any other social media accounts, but it has gained its first celebrity followers and a certified blue tick.
