Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be in New York City this week for World Mental Health Day with one royal expert predicting it will be “substance over photo ops.”
The Duke and Duchess are being honored for their work in mental health advocacy with Project Healthy Minds making them their Humanitarians of the Year.
The award will be presented at the nonprofit’s annual gala on Thursday night, followed by an all-day festival on Friday where Harry and Meghan will host three talks that relate to managing mental health in the digital age.
Emma Fabiani, who runs a Meghan Markle fan page on Instagram, is looking forward to the visit, which will the Sussexes reunite with Project Health Minds, who they first partnered with in 2023, co-hosting a summit as part of World Mental Health Day.
The fanpage administrator said: “As for New York and Project Healthy Minds, I’m glad to see them return. It builds on what they did in 2023, and mental health really is central to their work.”
Fabiani is looking forward to the visit and what’s to come, in which she elaborated on.
She said: “What I’m eager to see are the concrete outputs: new partnerships, practical tools for schools and families, and initiatives for young people and workplaces.”
In addition to the gala, Harry and Meghan will be hosting three talks at the festival on Friday, which is free and open to the public.
Fabiana added: “With three talks on the schedule, I’m expecting substance over photo ops.”
Harry and Meghan’s talks will cover a range of topics, which you can see below:
Thriving or Surviving: How Are Young People Doing in the Digital Age? at 10am (EDT)
The Mental Health and Psychosocial Response to Humanitarian Crisis at 11am (EDT)
The State of AI Safety ar 2:30pm (EDT)
World Mental Health Day Festival will kick off at Spring Studios in New York City, located at 50 Varick Street, and you can find the entire list of events over at Project Healthy Minds
The festival is open to the public and is free of charge but space is limited and it’s first come, first serve.