Meghan Markle delivered her first public speech in Britain since ditching her royal status and jetting to the Hollywood Hills over two years ago.
The Duchess of Sussex delivered the keynote address Monday at the One Young World summit, an annual event for young activists “to come together to confront the biggest challenges facing humanity.”
Hubby Prince Harry watched on as Markle spoke about gender equality at the event’s opening ceremony. She touched on her self-doubt as “the girl from ‘Suits’ ” while attending the same summit in 2014, two years before tabloids exploded with tales of her and Harry’s dating life.
Markle had a starring role in seven seasons of the American legal drama “Suits” from 2011 to 2018.
“I was allowed in, to pull up a seat at the table,” Meghan said at the massive Manchester event. “I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it.”
“Just proof — proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn’t sure that I belonged,” she said.
Markle and Harry traveled to the event from London by train. The pair are reportedly staying in Windsor, just half a mile away from Prince William and his family, though the royals have reportedly made no plans to contact the exiled duo.
William worries that the private conversations between him and his brother will be brought up to the media, as some have in earlier bombshell interviews, according to Harry’s biographer Angela Levin.
Markle and Harry have rarely made trips to the UK since stepping down as senior royals in 2020. They appeared at Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in June but left before celebrations came to a close. They also made a brief appearance at a thanksgiving service.
Their next stop is Germany for a Tuesday event counting down to the Invictus Games 2023. Harry is scheduled to deliver a speech at a charity ceremony in London on Thursday.
