Harry and Meghan ‘humbled’ to make TIME’s most influential people list

After a year of headlines spanning bombshell interviews, welcoming new life, and giving ‘a voice to the voiceless’, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reveal they are ‘humbled’ to have made TIME100 list for 2021.

Meghan and Harry, who recently celebrated his 37th birthday, made the magazine’s annual list of 100 influential people worldwide, featuring on one of the issues' many covers alongside a flattering article, expanding on the couple’s persona and actions that led them to become such icons.

‘They run toward the struggle’

The article on theDuke and Duchess of Sussex celebrates how the pair have turned ‘compassion into boots on the ground’ and gave a ‘voice to the voiceless through media production.’

Meghan and Harry were profiled by José Andrés of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity that the Archewell Foundation collaborated with in aid of Haiti. Andrés touched on the couple’s humanitarian efforts:

Hand in hand with nonprofit partners, they take risks to help communities in need—offering mental-health support to Black women and girls in the U.S., and feeding those affected by natural disasters in India and the Caribbean.

Andrés continued: ‘In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don't know, the Duke and Duchess have compassion for the people they don't know. They don't just opine. They run toward the struggle.’

Alongside their TIME feature, Harry and Meghan also profiled the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, highlighting her history-making efforts in becoming the first woman and African in her role. The Sussexes also noted Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s ‘trailblazing leadership’ and her efforts to ‘show us that to end the pandemic, we must work together to equip every nation with equitable vaccine access.’

The couple posted to the Archewell Foundation website: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are not only humbled to be part of this year’s TIME 100, but to also write in praise of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the publication’s annual list of Most Influential people.’

Who else made the TIME’s list?

Each year, TIME Magazine compiles a list of the world’s most influential people, featuring a range of distinguished individuals from various fields. The list in total features ten climate leaders and 54 women. Other entries for the TIME 100 list for 2021 include US President and Vice President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, musician’s Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and Britney Spears, athletes Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles, as well as award-winning director Chloé Zhao.

TIME CEO and editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal released in a statement: ‘At TIME, we see the TIME100 as far more than a list. It is a community of leaders whose energy and commitment we hope inspires others to spring into action as well.’

It features extraordinary leaders from around the world working to build a better future, from entertainers striving to make Hollywood more inclusive to activists fighting for sustainability and human rights. They are disrupters, fixers, doers, iconoclasts, problem solvers - people who in a year of crisis have leaped into the fray.