Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are taking further steps to push their advocacy of creating a safe space on the internet with a special talk for TIME Magazine. In line with the virtual event on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also released a new black and white portrait as part of the promotion.
The photo, taken by Los Angeles-based photographer Matt Sayles, shows Meghan Markle leaning towards her husband with her arm on his leg and a huge smile on her face. Prince Harry, on the other hand, is looking straight at the camera as he flashed a poignant smile.
According to TIME, Meghan and Harry will be leading the special TIME100 Talks event that will round up various leaders in their field of expertise. The topic on hand is centered on "Engineering a Better World," which is one of the tenets of Archewell, the soon-to-be launched foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Expected to attend the virtual event are TIME editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal, Reddit co-founder and Meghan's friend Alexis Ohanian, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, disinformation researcher Renée DiResta, The Loveland Foundation founder Rachel Cargleand, Somewhere Good and Teenager Therapy's Naj Austin and Center for Humane Technology founder Tristan Harris.
Meghan and Harry will do the opening and closing remarks, aside from leading the talk with the selected guests. They were chosen for this event because TIME regards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as two of the "most influential voices in the world," according to its executive editor Dan Macsai.
A royal commentator, however, warned that the couple's upcoming talk might become controversial yet again. Richard Fitzwilliams said Meghan and Harry might use this chance to promote and discuss their other advocacies, such as racial justice, climate change and gender equality.
Fitzwilliams said that it will be interesting to watch how Meghan and Harry will steer the conversation with the guests. He said that Harry "skated on thin ice" when he discussed online negativity, misinformation and hate speech in a previous appearance for TIME, which was televised on ABC.
The royal commentator reminded the Duke of Sussex of Donald Trump's reaction after he called out the election misinformation online and seemingly showed his political leanings. The American president said that he wasn't a fan of Meghan Markle and that he wishes Prince Harry good luck because he thinks the royal needs it.
