Meghan and Harry provide free meals for staff at The King Center on Martin Luther King Jr Day

‘Your care matters so much to those here,’ says The King Center

(AFP via Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have provided free meals to volunteers and staff working at The King Centre in Atlanta on Martin Luther King Jr Day.

On Monday 17 January, the US marked the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr in its annual federal holiday, which is always observed on the third Monday of the year despite the fact that the civil rights leader was actually born on 15 January.

Born in 1929, Martin Luther King Jr was a Baptist minister best known for using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience to combat racial inequality.

Mr King led the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person and also helped to arrange the March on Washington in 1963, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Mr King was assassinated by James Earl Ray on 4 April, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while he was planning a national occupation of Washington DC.

Now, Harry and Meghan have sought to honour his life and work by providing staff at The King Centre, which is the official living memorial to Mr King, on Monday.

The Center thanked the couple for their philanthropy in a tweet.

“Thank you, Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for providing local Black-owned food trucks for our #MLKDay service project volunteers,” they said.

“Your care matters so much to those here to register and educate voters and collect items for our homeless neighbours.”

The tweet has garnered more than 9,000 likes and hundreds of comments from fans of the couple.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are always doing beautiful things for people they are such caring people,” tweeted one person.

“This is so beautiful. Harry and Meghan don’t believe the hate. There are millions who love you. Keep strong,” another added.