Meghan Markle Is All Smiles as She Steps Out for the First Time Since Emotional Documentary
Meghan Markle is lending her support to inspiring young leaders across the globe.
The Duchess of Sussex, 38, arrived at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Tuesday for the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit. She stepped out in a purple midi dress with long sleeves by Aritzia — a look she previously paired with a red jacket for a visit to Birkenhead early this year while pregnant with son Archie. She completed the look with navy heels and her hair worn in a bouncy blowout parted down the middle.
The global forum for young leaders brings together 2,000 young people from over 190 countries around the world to promote social impact. One Young World’s mission is to create the next generation of more responsible and effective leadership — a cause Meghan is fiercely passionate about.
The royal mom is Vice-President of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, which is partnering with One Young World this year to bring 53 young leaders from across the Commonwealth to attend the Summit in London. Within her role, Meghan works alongside the Queen, the trust’s Patron, and husband Prince Harry, the trust’s President, to help support, fund and connect young leaders around the world who are working to improve their communities.
Meghan is a longtime supporter of One Young World. She first joined as a counselor at the 2014 Summit in Dublin, where she addressed young leaders on the importance of women’s rights and the role men play in achieving equality. She also attended the 2016 Summit in Ottawa.
This is why #MeghanMarkle called out @Suits_USA creator on gender inequality. #genderbias pic.twitter.com/IdQnpKNjF0
— One Young World (@OneYoungWorld) November 1, 2016
“You need men to try and effect that change because at the end of the day, I think what scares people is the idea that female empowerment is somehow threatening. No it’s not, you empower the women, you’re empowering the community,” she said at the 2014 Summit.
Meghan’s appearance at the opening ceremony comes two days after her and Harry’s emotional ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, which saw them open up about ongoing tabloid rumors and the onslaught of attention and lack of privacy.
“It’s hard. I don’t think anybody can understand that, but in all fairness, I had no idea,” she said of the relentless attacks from tabloids. “Which probably sounds difficult to understand here, but when I first met my now-husband my friends were really happy because I was so happy.”
Meghan added, “But my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life.’ And I very naively — I’m an American we don’t have that there — said, ‘What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense! I’m not in tabloids!’ I didn’t get it. So, it’s been… yeah, it’s been complicated.”
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Amid the relentless tabloid attention on her interracial relationship and family, the royal mom of one said she hopes people will one day come to understand and focus on the love she and Harry share for one another.
“I would hope that people, the world, will get to the point where they just see us as a couple who’s in love, because I don’t wake up every day and identify as being anything other than who I’ve always been,” she said. “It’s just, I’m Meghan and I’ve married this incredible man and this to me is just part of our love story.”
