'Bewildering Choice!' RFK Jr. 'Baffled' His Family Is Honoring Prince Harry & Meghan Markle With Distinguished Human Rights Award
Nov. 15 2022, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is both “bewildered” and “baffled” by his family’s decision to award Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this year’s distinguished Ripple of Hope award, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The award, which is given annually by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization for “exemplary leaders across government, business, and advocacy,” will be given to Harry and Meghan during a gala in New York City scheduled for December 6.
Harry and Meghan were announced as this year’s recipients alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by RFK Jr.’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, who runs the organization in honor of the siblings' late father, Bobby Kennedy.
But while RFK Jr. told Daily Mail he is both “baffled” and “bewildered” by the choice to name Prince Harry and Meghan as two of this year’s recipients, he also acknowledged the choice is an “encouraging step up” from when Dr. Anthony Fauci won the award in 2020 for his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It's a bewildering choice but still an encouraging step up from 2020,” the 68-year-old exclusively told the outlet.
Past recipients of the Ripple of Hope human rights award also include former President Barack Obama, current President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and both Bill and Hillary Clinton.
While announcing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as two of this year’s recipients, Kerry Kennedy cited the couple’s work towards “racial injustice” and “mental health” as reasons for them being given the prestigious award.
“The couple has always stood out for their willingness to speak up and change the narrative on racial justice and mental health around the world,” Kerry said in October 2021.
She added, “They embody the type of moral courage that my father once called the ‘one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.’”
David Nasaw, a British professor, said it is “blatantly ludicrous” that Harry and Meghan are set to be honored at the gala in December.
“If you look at the people who have been awarded the Robert Kennedy prize in the past – Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Bishop Desmond Tutu – and then you have to ask what are Harry and Meghan doing here?” Nasaw said, echoing RFK Jr.
“What in God’s name have they done to merit this?” the British professor continued. “What percentage of Harry and Meghan’s wealth is going to worthy causes?”
The tickets for December's gala run anywhere from $2,500 to a whopping $1 million, with choices to sit at the "head table" alongside Harry and Meghan.