Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have been awarded the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) organisation at a gala in New York. 

The couple won the award for their racial justice and mental health work.

The two also spoke about their “belief of courage over fear and love over hate”.

The actor Alec Baldwin – who last year was involved in a deadly shooting on a film set – hosted the award. 

Ukraine’s president Zelensky and Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan also received awards. 

Harry and Meghan Archewell collaboration 

During the New York ceremony, Harry and Meghan announced a  new collaboration between their Archewell Foundation and the RFKHR – the Archewell Foundation Award for Gender Equity in Student Film.

“Our hope with this award is to inspire a new generation of leadership in the arts, where diverse up-and-coming talent have a platform to have their voices heard and their stories told,” the couple said in a statement.

“The values of RFK Foundation and the Archewell Foundation are aligned in our shared belief of courage over fear, and love over hate.

“Together we know that a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change.”

‘Meghan incredibly brave’

RFKHR President Kerry Kennedy said the royal couple had been “incredibly brave” in addressing the issues of mental illness and racial justice.

“For Meghan to get out there on national television and normalise discussion of mental health, at this point, is incredibly important and very brave,” Ms Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F Kennedy, told US outlet Extra.

On stage with Ms Kennedy, Harry joked: “I’ll be honest with you, Kerry – I just thought we were just going on a date night, so I found it quite weird that we’re sharing the room with 1,500 people.

“We don’t get out much these days because our kids are so small and young, so this is completely unexpected.

“But it’s nice to share date night with all of you, so thank you for coming,” he added to laughter from the audience.

Harry and Meghan Netflix show 

The award comes just ahead of Thursday’s release of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show – volume two will drop a week later. 

In the trailers released, Harry speaks of “leaking” and “planting of stories” as part of a “dirty game.” 

But the trailers have been criticised for allegedly using footage and photos in misleading ways – and footage that does not relate to the couple.

It has also been noted that Harry and Meghan appear to have distanced themselves from the project, and it doesn’t look like the couple will be promoting the show.