Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were crowned \u201cHumanitarians of the Year\u201d Thursday evening \u2014 promoting family values while desperately trying to forge a path of reconciliation with their own clan.<\/p>\n
The couple were honored in New York City <\/a>at a gala for Project Healthy Minds, a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to mental health services throughout the US.<\/p>\n Despite having barely been seen together in public this year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wore coordinating Armani suits<\/a> and clasped hands on the red carpet.<\/p>\n \u2018Humanitarians of the Year\u2019 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ready to strategize a peace deal with royals: source REUTERS<\/p>\n The couple, clad in matching Armani suits, talked about being parents and promoted family values at the gala. Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds<\/p>\n Insiders told Page Six that, behind the scenes, Markle \u2014 who has never shied away from going into detail about how her husband\u2019s relatives allegedly mistreated her \u2014 has actually been supporting Harry\u2019s recent bid to reconcile with his family, especially his father.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need the [royal] family,\u201d said a source, adding, \u201cMeghan is aware of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple is well aware of the cachet <\/a>their royal ties afford them: Their stationery and that of their children has \u201cHRH\u201d emblazoned on it.<\/p>\n Harry gave the opening remarks on Friday to open the World Mental Health Day Festival. Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n Markle has been eager to help her husband forge a path of reconciliation with his family, sources said. Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n \u201cMeghan knows that Harry won\u2019t be returning to royal duties, but on a human, personal level, [she wants for him to be] able to get on good terms with his father,\u201d added the source.<\/p>\n Harry, 41, has made it clear he\u2019s keen to make amends with King Charles, 76, who is fighting a cancer battle. Sources tell us tentative talks are happening around his wife and children \u2014 Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4 \u2014\u00a0to travel to the UK at some point in the near future.<\/p>\n Security remains a sticking point, as Harry lost a court appeal against the UK government in May, after being denied taxpayer-funded protection in his homeland \u2014 a move he called \u201cunjustified and inferior treatment<\/a>,\u201d but was a result of him having stepped down as a working royal.<\/p>\n Markle and Harry are well aware of the cachet their royal ties afford them. Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n And it was reported by the Telegraph this week that a \u201cknown stalker\u201d came within feet of Harry twice<\/a> last month when he was in London to attend events including the WellChild Awards. The paper revealed that the woman, who allegedly previously followed him to Nigeria, was \u201cbody-blocked\u201d by his security team who recognized her.<\/p>\n But one insider made it clear that Markle is not holding Harry back from his family and that she encouraged him to see the king while he was in London.<\/p>\n The insider added that the couple both very much want Charles to spend time with his grandchildren, and that Harry is believed to have given his father a photo of Archie and Lilibet <\/a>during their private tea together at Clarence House.<\/p>\n Markle made her Paris Fashion Week debut last weekend. Getty Images for Balenciaga<\/p>\n Harry is said to have been relieved to find his father doing well after not having seen him in person for 19 months \u2014 wearing a big smile afterward as he told reporters Charles was \u201cgreat.\u201d And the wayward prince has seemed lighter and happier since, sources said.<\/p>\n He was seen beaming at Thursday\u2019s gala as well as Friday at a Manhattan forum for Project Healthy Minds in honor of World Mental Health Day.<\/p>\n \u201cHarry is just at his happiest when he is at events like this,\u201d said one guest who has worked with Harry for years, \u201cThis is basically just what he sees as his life\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n In September, Harry got to see his father, King Charles, for the first time in 19 months. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n And while insiders praised Markle \u2014 who will be in Washington, DC, Tuesday for Fortune\u2019s Most Powerful Women Summit \u2014\u00a0for helping her husband find a path back to his father, she\u2019s still stirring up trouble.<\/p>\n Critics, including royal watcher Richard Fitzwilliams,<\/a> blasted her as \u201cinsensitive beyond belief\u201d for posting a social media video of her feet propped up in a car driving near Paris\u2019 Pont de l\u2019Alma tunnel \u2014 where Harry\u2019s mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in August 1997.<\/p>\n She was in town for Paris Fashion Week,<\/a> supporting designer Pierpaolo Piccioli\u2019s Balenciaga debut and air-kissing with Anna Wintour.<\/p>\n Prince William recently mentioned his estranged brother for the first time in in years while talking to Eugene Levy for \u201cThe Reluctant Traveler.\u201d Apple TV+<\/p>\n Markle has also been busy promoting the second season of her Netflix show, \u201cWith Love, Meghan\u201d \u2014\u00a0which failed to make the streamer\u2019s Top 10 shows \u2014 and working on a corresponding holiday special.<\/p>\n Apple TV+, meanwhile, scored a royal coup this week when Harry\u2019s brother, Prince William, appeared on Eugene Levy\u2019s series \u201cThe Reluctant Traveler.\u201d<\/p>\n The 43-year-old spoke to the \u201cSchitt\u2019s Creek\u201d actor about the media frenzy that surrounded his childhood and how he hoped to protect his own children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis from it.<\/p>\n