Leave Harry, Duke of LA, alone. He's the embodiment of Madiba

I am delighted the person giving the keynote speech for Nelson Mandela Day at the UN General Assembly on Monday is Prince Harry. Sorry, I might have his title wrong — isn't he now styled the Duke of LA? This charming chap embodies, almost perfectly, everything Mandela stood for.

They were both sporting fellows — Madiba liked boxing and Harry loves polo. To be fair, his team, helmed by that dreamy Nacho Figueras, hasn't been doing as well as expected given the time and effort the good Duke has expended on the Sport of Kings, and his commendable handicap, but give the guy a chance. He's been battling the forces of evil. Just like Mandela, he's been through a lot.

As told to Oprah in his cri du coeur interview, his family and the British press have been giving him and his lovely wife Meghan such a hard time. All they wanted was to represent. And bring some fast-paced LA management style to the fuddy-duddy palace. What do they get for trying to do their thing for world peace and glad-hand all over the place as lovely representatives of the B list? Backlash, that’s what! 

To top it all, the rumour mill has it that some nasty toff — a duchess or lord or someone very senior in the Firm — said something horrid about Meghan and the prospective royal babies. And you know what? They just had to leave. It was too much to bear. I mean, I could have told them, given Prince Harry’s extended family history and their rather unseemly scramble for Africa.

All his royal uncles and aunts across Germany and Europe fighting it out over the bits and bobs of that dark continent, not to mention that war against the Zulus. Some of that thinking takes a while to work itself out of the system. I see Harry much more like a Livingstone than a Rhodes, a young gentleman explorer with a heart of gold, an interest in game and saving the poor children of Africa. Now he has first-hand experience of racism too. Just saying.

Plus he's in exile. Just like Madiba. No, sorry, of course, he was imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island. Same, same-ish. Harry is imprisoned in his gilded pleasure palace in Montecito with a podcast schedule and documentary team following him around. But he has a conscience and a voice. Think about that tragic scene when he had to follow his mom’s coffin through the streets of London as all the people wailed and cried about the tragic young prince and his mother, the dead princess who was just about to find happiness on a superyacht with that Harrod’s guy and instead met with the paparazzi in Paris. Or did she?

So, yes, I think Harry is perfect fit, what with the UN being such a very effective organisation for world peace. I'm really pleased he can grab hold of the global spotlight on such an important day, when we remember the sacrifices Mandela made for all of us. OK? But especially for Harry’s right to a security entourage. That will show them.