Prince Harry and Meghan Markle awarded for fighting ‘structural racism’ in Royal Family

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry attend the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards Gala at the New York Hilton Midtown. Photo / AP

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have accepted an award for fighting “structural racism” in the Royal Family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex - whose Netflix documentary is set to launch on Thursday - were honoured at the Ripple of Home awards in New York on Tuesday night (today NZT), but refused to answer questions about the upcoming series.

Kerry Kennedy - the daughter of Robert F Kennedy who runs the RFK Foundation, which is behind the awards - previously said she had chosen Harry and Meghan for the prize because of their “heroic” stance as apparent “structural racism” in the Royal Family.

She added: “Few would have the courage to question their colleagues, family and community about the power structure they maintained, and this is what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have done.”

Speaking at the gala this week, Harry said: “Ultimately we live in this world now where sharing experiences and sharing stories has an enormous impact.”

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry are honoured at the Ripple of Home awards. Photo / AP

Previous winners of the human rights awards from the organisation include Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

At the gala, Alec Baldwin revealed his admiration for the Sussexes.

He commented: “They way they deal with difficult circumstances in the press without too much difficulty.

“They’ve obviously chosen a different path. Good for them. They’re newly arrived in the States.

“I think it’s great they’ve agreed to support this cause which we have for years.”

In last year’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple accused an unnamed member of the royal family of asking about Archie’s skin tone before he was born.

Meghan claimed in the interview that there had been several “concerns and conversations” raised by a member of the royal family about how “dark” Archie’s skin would be.

She explained: “That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him.”

Meanwhile, their appearance at the awards come amid controversy surrounding their documentary, with the trailer depicting their experiences with the media by using footage and images of the paparazzi from unrelated events, including a Harry Potter premiere in 2011, years before Harry and Meghan had even met.