2:40
- culture
- Royal Family
- October 11, 2019
Duchess Meghan shares inspiring message for girls
The Duchess of Sussex took action to support women at age 11.
Meghan, who grew up in California, wrote a series of letters that she claims changed how women were portrayed in a commercial for dish soap.
\"If you see something that you don't like or are offended by, on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people,\" the young Meghan says in the throwback clip. \"And you can really make a difference for not just yourself but lots of other people.\"
The now Duchess of Sussex also shared in the Instagram post a quote she said in a speech in Cape Town during her recent 10-day tour of South Africa with Prince Harry: “Visualize your highest self, and show up as her.”
\"To all of the young girls reading this today on International Day of the Girl, that quote is for you,\" the post reads.
It is no surprise that Meghan chose to speak out on a day devoted to women's empowerment. The duchess has made women a focus of her work as a royal, including supporting women-focused charities in the U.K., launching a fashion capsule collection to benefit women and spotlighting women at events both home in the U.K. and abroad.
When Meghan had the opportunity to guest-edit British Vogue's September issue this year, she used the platform to spotlight activist women like maternal rights advocate and model Christy Turlington, feminist and actress Yara Shahidi and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in an issue she named \"Forces for Change.\"
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jul 28, 2019 at 2:26pm PDT
Meghan, a self-described feminist, also advocated for women when she worked as an actress, before she wed Prince Harry.
\"I am proud to be a woman and a feminist,\" Markle said in a 2015 speech in her role as a United Nations Women advocate for political participation and leadership.
\"It isn’t enough to simply talk about equality. One must believe in it,\" she said in the speech. \"And it isn’t enough to simply believe in it. One must work at it. Let us work at it, together, starting now.\"
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Sep 30, 2019 at 9:10am PDT
While making a name for herself in Hollywood, Markle worked on women's rights issues with organizations including World Vision, the Myna Mahila Foundation and One Young World, in addition to the United Nations.
On International Women's Day in 2017, Markle wrote an essay on period shaming based on her experience visiting India as an ambassador for World Vision, a global Christian humanitarian organization.
\"We need to push the conversation, mobilize policy making surrounding menstrual health initiatives, support organizations who foster girls' education from the ground up,\" she wrote in Time magazine. \"And within our own homes, we need to rise above our puritanical bashfulness when it comes to talking about menstruation.”
While Meghan was dating Harry, she hinted that she had found her match in him as a feminist.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Apr 7, 2019 at 8:06am PDT
She responded to a well-wisher who told her, \"It's great having a feminist in the royal family,\" by saying, \"He's a feminist too,\" in an apparent reference to Harry.
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