Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle will be honored at the NAACP Image Awards for heeding the call to social justice.
READ: Meghan Markle will create 'a few shock waves' and 'do what no one expects' in 2022
The pair were named as recipients of the prestigious President’s Award, which recognizes special achievement and distinguished public service, and has previously been awarded to Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, LeBron James, Rihanna, Jay-Z and Lauryn Hill.
WATCH: Hello! Insider: Harry and Meghan's Oprah Interview
In a joint statement they shared that it was a "true honor" and they added that the efforts by the US civil rights organization on racial justice were as "vital today as they were nearly 115 years ago".
"We’re proud to support the NAACP’s work and to also partner with the organization on the newly created annual NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which will be bestowed to Dr Safiya Noble as part of the 53rd NAACP Image Awards," they added.
READ: Surprising revelations we learnt from Prince Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview
MORE: What has the royal family said about Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview?
Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said: "We’re thrilled to present this award to Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who together have heeded the call to social justice and have joined the struggle for equity both in the US and around.
The NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award recognizes leaders creating "transformational change at the intersection of social justice and technology".
Harry and Meghan moved to the US in 2020
Meghan is the first mixed race person to marry a senior British royal in centuries, and she claimed in their bombshell Oprah interview that an unnamed royal raised concerns with Harry about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.
In October 2020, Harry admitted his privileged upbringing as a member of the royal family meant he had no understanding of unconscious racial bias.
Harry said it took him many years – and the experience of "living" in wife Meghan’s shoes – to recognise the issue, during a conversation with Black Lives Matter supporter Patrick Hutchinson.
The 53rd NAACP Image Awards will air on Saturday 26 February, 2022 at 8/7c on BET. Internationally, the show will air on BET Africa at 20:00 CAT on 27 February, and on BET UK on My5 from 5pm on Monday 1 March.
