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The Duke of Sussex has paid tribute to his late mother by attending an event in New York dedicated to her memory.
Prince Harry took part in a panel discussion with two young recipients of the Diana Award, which works to create positive change for young people.
It was the first stop on the duke’s visit to Manhattan which will see him attend five high-profile events held over two days during UN General Assembly High-Level Week and Climate Week.
READ MORE: How Prince Harry is carrying on Diana’s legacy in New York
On Monday, Prince Harry spoke on stage at a conference for the Diana Award, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, held inside the Sheraton Hotel.
He was joined the charity’s chief executive, Dr Tessy Ojo, and two winners of the Diana Legacy Award, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, from Indonesia, and Christina Williams, 27, from Jamaica.
Ojo told the audience: “The Diana Award is a living legacy to Diana, Princess of Wales, and usually when I talk about this I have to try and tell you who we are, and maybe tell you who Princess Diana is. But today I don’t have to do that, because I’m thrilled to be joined today by her son, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.
“I’m very grateful to have the Duke of Sussex with us. He is a passionate advocate for mental health. He actually said to me as we came in that actually we should no longer talk about mental health but we should talk about mental fitness. His dedication to this cause strengthens our mission.”
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Williams, who started her advocacy at age 11 and has since successfully lobbied for student access to health insurance island-wide in her home country of Jamaica, told Prince Harry: “Scared children cannot dream”.
He agreed and, when speaking about the impacts of mental health, said the condition affected “every single one of us, from the top to bottom, from the youngest to the oldest.”
Harry said: “I know that my mum would be incredibly proud of you guys – not just you, but all of the winners – and Tessy, you’ve been in this for a very long time, so thank you for that as well.
“But the way that you do it, your activism, your compassion, those two things are so true to how my mum led her life and what she believed in. And the way that you do it is incredible. So, thank you.
“We need to listen, constantly listen, and then act on the advice and the vision that you have, because otherwise it’s your future that’s being stolen from you and that is unacceptable.”
The duke called on governments around the world to listen to the problems faced by young people before making policy decisions.
“Surely one of the solutions here is for governments to implement, or at least find people young people like yourselves, and bring them into decision making, policy-making situations before the problems exist,” Harry said.
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“That is where the difference is going to be made. And why is that not happening?”
Later, Prince Harry was due to attend a Halo Trust event in partnership with the government of Angola, a country Diana visited shortly before she died to see the work the charity was doing there to detect and remove landmines.
The Duchess of Sussex has not joined Prince Harry on his visit to New York.
On Tuesday, the duke will join Bill Clinton to discuss solutions to global challenges, including climate change.
He will take part in a panel titled Everything Everywhere All At Once, at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting, alongside the former president and Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, journalist Katie Couric, Dr Jane Goodall and World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
On Sunday, Prince Harry attended a dinner with Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, organised by the World Health Organisation, which focused on “Violence against children and its impact on mental health”.
Next week, Prince Harry will return to London for the WellChild Awards.