Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have stepped down from their Royal duties, but their good work continues.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are currently in Los Angeles, are finding ways to give back during the coronavirus crisis.
The couple recently donated $112,000 – earnings from their May 2018 wedding broadcast – to the U.K. charity Feeding Britain. A spokesperson for the couple confirmed the donation in a statement.
“The Duke and Duchess were able to speak to The Archbishop recently, and were moved to hear all about the work Feeding Britain was doing to support people during COVID-19,” the statement reads. “They have particularly fond memories of their visit to the citizens’ supermarket in Birkenhead, especially the generosity and compassion of everyone working there to help others. They are delighted to be able to ensure this money is donated to such a great cause.”
The Sussexes are also volunteering in their new city of residence, joining Project Angel Food – an organization which prepares, and delivers meals to people living with critical illnesses – to bring food to 20 clients in West Hollywood, California. They also practiced the social distancing guidelines wearing masks, gloves, and keeping a distance of six feet or more as they went about their deliveries.
Project Angel Food’s executive director, Richard Ayoub, was “blown away” at the couple’s decision to work with them.
“I am blown away that they chose us. They care about our vulnerable population,” Richard shared. “Our clients are most at risk to contract the coronavirus, having compromised immune systems including heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and most are over the age of 60.”
He said that they started volunteering on Easter Sunday (April 12), and again on Wednesday (April 15).
“They told us they heard our drivers were overloaded and wanted to volunteer to lighten the drivers’ workload,” Richard said.
Apparently, Meghan has known about Project Angel Food from when she was growing up in L.A and has been inspired by their work’s impact on the community.
Prince Harry also took time to bring some comfort to vulnerable families during this difficult time.
Harry, a patron of the charity WellChild for over a decade, sat down for a video chat with parents of seriously ill children, offering up encouragement and praise as he listened to their stories and struggles.
“Full respect to every single one of you. This is hard on everyone, but it is especially hard on you,” he said. “I know that WellChild are doing everything they can to support you. Hopefully, through this video we can make it more clear and obvious to Government and everybody else that you are in the ‘vulnerable’ bracket and WellChild needs more help.”
“It is really nice to see you all smiling and happy,” he added. “Keep going, keep the morale up, keep busy, keep being creative, dare yourself to try new hobbies and I hope to see you all again very, very soon!”
In the video of the 30-minute conversation, posted on WellChild’s YouTube account, Prince Harry also shared his own experiences.
He says he’s “not too bad,” adding, “It’s certainly strange times, everyone is experiencing the same thing in a unique way.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you guys. Having one kid at 11 months old is enough, so to see what you guys are going through on a day-to-day basis, honestly, so much respect to every single one of you,” he continued.
One mom had a pretty positive outlook about spending family time during the coronavirus outbreak, which Harry commended. “Being able to have family time, so much family time where you almost think, ‘Oh, do I feel guilty for having so much family time?’ You’ve gotta celebrate those moments where you just are on the floor rolling around in hysterics because of something that’s happened and then inevitably half an hour later, maybe a day later, there’s going to be something you have to deal with and there’s no way you can run away from it. You can’t even distract yourself in a different room,” he responded to the parent.
He also empathized with the struggles of the families. “None of us should be in this situation, but we are,” he said, adding, “I think when you’ve been through hard times you really come out so much stronger, not just for yourself, not just for your family, but for other people as well. Certainly from a mental health point of view, if you’ve ever been through that, you want to make sure no one else struggles or no one else goes through what you’ve been through.”
