MEGHAN Markle called for women to “use their voice” and showed her support of the
MeToo campaign in her first joint engagement with the Duchess of Cambridge yesterday.
On her first official appearance with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan supported the movement against sexual harassment and said that people should be encouraged to listen to what women had to say.
The former actress, 36, joined
Prince Harry at
Royal Foundation Forum in London alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to update the public on their charitable projects.
She will join their work on the Royal Foundation as its fourth patron after her wedding.
As a women’s advocate for the UN, Ms Markle said: “I hear a lot of people saying when speaking about girls’ empowerment and women’s empowerment...you are helping women find their voices.
“I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find their voice. They have a voice. They need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen.
“I think right now in the climate we are seeing so many campaigns — I mean MeToo, and Time’s Up — and there is no better time to really continue to shine a light upon women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them — men included in that. I mean, it makes such a tremendous difference.”
Ms Markle’s feminist reflections were received with strong support, in unfortunate comparison to the criticism Kate received when she attended the BAFTAs in a green dress - rather than joining the stars by wearing black in support of the campaign against sexual harassment - earlier this month.
Sitting next to her soon to be sister-in-law, she said she intended to “hit the ground running” as a working royal after she marries Prince Harry, 33, at Windsor Castle in May.
Noting that her royal work may be done “quietly behind the scenes”, Harry muttered “wedding first” to which she insisted: “We can multitask.”
Harry praised his future bride, saying: “I am personally incredibly proud and excited that my soon-to-be wife, who is equally passionate about seeing positive change in the world, will soon be joining us with this work.”
Viral campaigns #MeToo and #TimesUp spread around the world in the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment scandal in Hollywood, encouraging women to share their own experiences with abuse to highlight the 'magnitude' of the problem.