Prince Harry Criticized For Tackling Political Issues In UN Speech: 'Searching For Relevance'

Prince Harry has come under fire for wading into political issues at the U.N. General Assembly.

The Duke of Sussex attended the annual celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day with his wife Meghan Markle Monday, leaving critics mostly unimpressed with his keynote speech.

In his speech, Prince Harry talked about a photo of Princess Diana with Mandela, which was taken in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1997.

"When I first looked at the photo, straight away what jumped out is the joy on my mother's face," he recalled. "The playfulness, cheekiness, even. The pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity."

"Then I looked at Mandela. Here was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, asked to heal his country from the wreckage of his past and transform it for the future," he continued.

The Duke of Sussex went on to compare the challenges the world currently faces to those that were around during Mandela's time, including racial intolerance, discrimination, hunger and food security, and climate change.

However, royal editor Russell Myers criticized Prince Harry for his statements, saying "a lot of people around the world are scratching their heads."

"Poor old Harry, you look at the people who are gathered and there weren't too many of them in the room — so you can make of that what you will," he said in an interview with Natalie Barr and David Koch of the Australian breakfast show "Sunrise." "I'm sure a lot of people around the world will be hearing about his speech, maybe even tuned in. He tackled some really big issues, climate change, the weapon of lies and disinformation on the internet."

He also noted that Prince Harry was "quite brave for a British prince" for tackling political issues, particularly constitutional issues in the U.S., in his speech.

When Barr asked if it matters that Prince Harry is a member of the royal family, Myers responded that it does. "We shouldn't have a British prince wading into political issues like this. So, this is a huge, huge issue in the United States and it will certainly ruffle feathers," he explained.

After the interview, Koch asked Barr why she thinks Prince Harry and Meghan seem to love commenting on political issues in their public speeches.

"It just feels like they're searching — these two — searching for some kind of relevance," Barr answered.