Meghan Markle delivered her first public speech in the United Kingdom since she and her husband, Prince Harry, stepped down from their royal duties over two years ago. Markle gave her keynote address on Monday (Sept. 5) at the One Young World Summit, an annual event for young activists.
“It is very nice to be back in the UK, and it is very nice to be back with all of you at One Young World,” Markle said. “As you’ll likely hear many times this week, and as we just heard, you’ll hear all sorts of things—some very heavy, some very uplifting. But the resounding spirit I believe you’ll hear is that you are the future.”
During the address, she spoke about gender equality and shared her self-doubt as a TV star while attending the same summit in 2014, two years before she started dating Prince Harry. “In many ways, at the time, I was probably a lot like each of you. Young, ambitious, and advocating for the things I deeply and profoundly believed in. And also looking around and wondering, ‘How on earth did I get here? At that dinner, there were about 20 to 30 of us counselors, and there I was, the girl from ‘Suits,'” Markle chuckled.
During her speech, the Duchess of Sussex praised Prince Harry and expressed her excitement that he would attend this year’s summit. “I joined you in London in 2019, and by that point, it’s fair to say, my life changed rather significantly. I was now married, and I was now a mom,” she explained. “My worldview had expanded exponentially, seeing the global community through the eyes of my child.”
Last month, Markle revealed that a British tabloid called her children the N-word. During an interview with The Cut, she admitted that she declined to give pictures of her son, Archie, to the Royal Rota, the press pool that covers The Royal Family. “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” She asked. Markle and Harry opted to post the first public images of their son on social media.
You can watch Markle’s full keynote speech below: