At the Clinton Global Initiative, Prince Harry spoke passionately about fatherhood and his family, dismissing rumours of distance from Meghan Markle.

On Tuesday in New York, Prince Harry made a powerful statement about his role as a father and his unwavering dedication to his family in an emotional speech that put to rest rumours of him enjoying time apart from them.

Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, where he promoted the Parents Network, a charity he and Meghan Markle founded to protect children from the dangers of social media, Harry referenced his own children, saying, “My lock screen is a picture of my kids, what is yours?” The screen behind him then displayed the heartbreaking images of children who had taken their own lives due to social media bullying.

“These children and thousands more, meant the world to their families. The beautiful faces you see before you, their smiles, their dreams, all lost, all too soon and all because of social media. It is why we launched the Parents Network, a global community that provides crucial support to parents whose children have suffered from the harmful effects of social media,” he then said.

Harry’s video call and speech seem calculated

The reference to his own family by the Duke seemed to be a calculated effort to oppose ongoing accusations from critics that Harry may enjoy spending time apart from his wife and kids.

Just a day earlier, Harry was seen making a video call to his family in a semi-public setting, further dispelling the rumours. The call took place at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, where Harry was preparing to go on stage with Diana Award recipients.

One of the award winners, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, told People, “Backstage, he was actually calling Meghan. I thought that was just so sweet, and it helped humanize him. He made sure we had no nerves at all,” and his children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, were on the call.

The video call and Harry’s public acknowledgement of his children looked as though they were each cunningly staged to fight against the present narrative from critics and social media commentators who have mused about a divide between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. While in New York this week, Harry has been spending time separately from Meghan, attending several different events.