© 2026 ABC News

Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, moved to California with their 1-year-old son Archie earlier this year after stepping down from their roles as senior working members of Britain's royal family.

Meghan, a California native who moved to London just before she wed Prince Harry in 2018, is expected to make history as the first member of the royal family to publicly exercise their right to vote.

It is against protocol for members of the royal family to get involved in politics, a stance Harry noted when he said in the Time100 special that he has never been able to vote in the U.K.

Harry and Meghan's participation in a video urging people to vote is already stirring controversy in the U.K. because of the royal family's strict nonpartisan policy when it comes to politics.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the Sussexes' Time100 video.

A royal source told ABC News, \"The Duke is not a working member of the Royal Family and any comments he makes are made in a personal capacity.”

Meghan -- who spoke out against President Donald Trump in 2016, before he was president and before she married Prince Harry -- told Marie Claire magazine last month why she plans to vote in the U.S. on Nov. 3rd.

\"PHOTO:
ABC
PHOTO: Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, speak about the importance of voting during the TIME100 special on ABC.
>

\"I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless,\" she said. \"I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard.\"

Meghan also spoke to feminist icon Gloria Steinem last month about voting as a way to honor women who paved the way for women's rights.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MAKERS Women (@makerswomen) on Aug 25, 2020 at 12:32pm PDT

\"Throughout our friendship, we've spoken of our shared beliefs surrounding women's rights, the need for representation, and the very timely conversation on voting,\" Meghan wrote in an introduction to her backyard conversation with Steinem. \"I firmly believe that we vote to honor those who came before us and to protect those who come after us. Ms. Steinem, my friend Gloria, is one of the women I honor when I vote.\"

Steinem later told Access Hollywood that she and Meghan cold-called people and encouraged them to vote.

\"She came home to vote,\" Steinem told Access Hollywood about Meghan. \"The first thing we did, and why she came to see me, was we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters and said, 'Hello, I'm Meg' and 'Hello, I'm Gloria' and 'Are you going to vote?' That was her initiative.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/prince-harry-meghan-markle-make-rare-royal-political/story?id=73186321","legacySlug":"/culture/story/prince-harry-meghan-markle-make-rare-royal-political-73186321","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"12:41","publishDate":"09-23-2020","updatedTime":"16:15","updatedDate":"09-23-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, speak about the importance of voting during the TIME100 special on ABC.","credit":"ABC","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/harry-meghan1-abc-ml-200923_1600864878465_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/23/2020 12:41:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":73186321,"headline":"Prince Harry, Meghan urge people to vote","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_HARRY, MEGHAN VOTING_200923","description":"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke out in a Time100 special.","duration":"5:02","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/08/200810_gma_deborah_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["72632353","72860723","71749885"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"August 26, 2020","headline":"Duchess Meghan shares how Prince Harry sets 'beautiful example' for Archie","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/duchess-meghan-shares-prince-harry-sets-beautiful-archie-72632353","id":72632353,"image":{"alt":"Duchess Meghan shares how Prince Harry sets 'beautiful example' for Archie","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/markle-file-gty-ml-190416_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Chris Jackson/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 7, 2020","headline":"Prince Harry and Meghan are now 'financially independent'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/prince-harry-duchess-meghan-officially-financially-independent-72860723","id":72860723,"image":{"alt":"Prince Harry and Meghan are now 'financially independent'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/markle-harry-rt-ml-200305_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Hannah Mckay/Reuters, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 14, 2020","headline":"Duchess Meghan's message to women: 'We have to speak up for ourselves'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/duchess-meghan-speaks-young-girls-summit-speak-71749885","id":71749885,"image":{"alt":"Duchess Meghan's message to women: 'We have to speak up for ourselves'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/markle-ht-ml-200714_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"The Duchess of Sussex","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Prince Harry, Meghan urge people to vote","description":"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke out in a Time100 special.","duration":"5:02","uploadDate":"09-23-2020","publication":"09-23-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/08/200810_gma_deborah_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/08/200810_gma_deborah_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/prince-harry-meghan-markle-make-rare-royal-political-73186321"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133929295","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133958398","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133882828","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Prince Harry, Meghan urge people to vote","pubTime":"08:41","pubDate":"09-23-2020","modTime":"12:15","modDate":"09-23-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":73186321,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Prince Harry, Meghan urge people to vote","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_HARRY, MEGHAN VOTING_200923","videoId":73186321,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/prince-harry-meghan-markle-make-rare-royal-political-73186321"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/73186321","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/73186321","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};