The Duchess of Sussex Discusses Feminism

Meghan Markle's International Women's Day Panel: Her Best Quotes

The Duchess of Sussex celebrated International Women's Day last Friday by taking part in a panel discussion at University College London. The panel's participants covered a broad range of issues affecting modern women today. The Queen's Commonwealth Trust organised the event and the panel was made up of a powerful mix of women's rights activists and leading voices in feminist discourse, including Annie Lennox, Adwoa Aboah, Julia Gillard, Anne McElvoy, Angeline Murimirwa, and Chrisann Jarrett. Meghan has long been a champion of women's rights and is patron of Smart Works, a charity that helps women get back on the career ladder. We've collected some of Meghan's best quotes below...

1. "I had seen this documentary on Netflix about feminism and one of the things they said during pregnancy is, ‘I feel the embryonic kicking of feminism.’ I loved that, so boy or girl, or whatever it is, we hope that’s the case."

2. "I think it would be impossible to not have boys especially as part of this conversation because picture how much courage it takes for a young girl in a small village, where most of the girls haven’t gone to school, and they’re reaching out, doing whatever they can, walking miles to be able to get an education."

3. "It’s not just about girls going to school and becoming smart girls – it’s knowing that those smart girls become influential women, and that ends up changing the world for the better.

4. "If you have boys as part of the conversation as well, you’re moving the needle in a different way because they’re not mimicking learned behavior that could be incredibly sabotaging for young girls’ potential."

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5. "If there was a wrong, if there is a lack of justice, and there is an inequality, then someone needs to do something. And why not me?"

6. "This is something that is going to be part of the conversation forever. And I think the more that we normalize it you see that, to the point of how men and boys should be part of the conversation, specifically in developing countries."

7. "There’s nothing threatening about a woman coming up to the same level, it’s our safety in numbers. Men are part of the conversation…my husband certainly is!”

8. "At age 11, I had seen a commercial at the time that I thought to be very sexist. Truth be told, at 11 I don’t think I even knew what sexism meant. I just knew that something struck me internally that was telling me it was wrong, and I knew that it was wrong. And using that as my moral compass and moving through from the age of 11, at that age I was able to change this commercial."