Meghan Markle gushes about her daughter, three, in speech about ‘Afro women and power’ during Colombian tour with Prince Harry, admitting ‘Lilibet has found her voice and we are so proud’

Meghan Markle has gushed about her daughter, three, in a speech about ‘Afro women and power’ talk on the final day of her tour in Colombia with Prince Harry.

She said that Lilibet ‘has found her voice and we are so proud of that’ in the speech the Duchess also used to pay tribute to her mother.

Meghan said: ‘For me I find inspiration in so many of the strong women around me. My mother being one of them. Life is full of surprises and can be quite complex.

‘So much of how I approach things is about less of the fight and how do we wash things over with love and kindness and generosity.

‘You see something wrong and you go and fix it. As women we are multi-taskers and fixers. We all know how much representation matters.’

The Duchess also said that as her mother, she is encouraging Lilibet to not ‘sit in silence’.

‘At three she has found her voice and we are so proud of that, because that is how we create the conditions in which there is a ripple effect of young girls and young women knowing that if someone else is encouraging them to use their voice and be heard, that’s what they are going to do,’ she added.

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Meghan speaks as part of the panel at the Afro women and power forum in Cali

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Meghan Markle said that Lilibet (pictured in 2022) ‘has found her voice and we are so proud of that’ in the speech the Duchess also used to pay tribute to her mother.

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Meghan (second left) speaks as part of the panel at the Afro women and power forum in Cali

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Meghan Markle on stage for the Afro women and power debate in Cali

Meghan pays tribute to her mother calling her an ‘inspiration’

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Meghan and Harry laugh as they sit in the audience at the Afro Women and Power event

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Meghan and Harry lift their hands up as they attend the Afro Women and Power event

Meghan opened her intervention at the debate speaking in Spanish and calling Ms Marquesa ‘my friend’ before going on to pay tribute to Harry as she carried on in English.

To a huge cheer she said:’ I would like to begin in Spanish because we are in your country, my husband and I, and I can feel this embrace from Colombia.

‘It’s incredible, so many, many thanks, because the culture, the history, everything has been like a dream on this trip.

‘Sorry if my Spanish is not perfect because I learned it 20 years ago in Argentina, but I’m trying here because I can feel this community and this feeling which is the best in the world.’

She added: ‘So thank you very much to the vice president, my friend, many thanks.’

A Colombian journalist said:’ For Meghan to say my friend in that way is such a powerful statement and shows just how close they have become. People will take note of that.’

Meghan then continued in English to retell her childhood story about writing to Procter & Gamble. ‘I was very, very fortunate at a young age to feel as though my voice was being heard,’ she said.

‘And I think that is a luxury that a lot of young girls and women aren’t often afforded.

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Meghan speaks in Spanish on final day of ‘quasi-royal’ Colombian tour

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex seen at the Afro-Descendant Women and Power: Voice of Equity at the Teatro Municipal on August 18, 2024 in Cali, Colombia

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Meghan speaks at the Afro women and power event in Cali on Sunday

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Yerney Pinillo, Colombia Vice President Francia Marquez, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the Afro-Descendant Women and Power: Voice of Equity at the Teatro Municipal on August 18, 2024 in Cali, Colombia

Meghan and Harry greet audience before her talk in Colombia

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Harry and Meghan greet people on arrival to the Afro women and power debate

Meghan and Harry kick off final day of ‘quasi-royal’ Colombian tour

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Meghan appeared on Nick News after lobbying the manufacturing company to change a TV ad for dishwashing liquid in 1993

‘I was 11-years-old, and you may know this story, I had seen a commercial that I felt was sexist, and I wrote a letter, several letters, about it, and the commercial was changed when you’re 11-years-old, and you realise very quickly that your small voice can have a very large impact.

‘I think it creates the framework to feel empowered to use your voice, because you know you’re being listened to.’

The Duchess often uses the childhood story in her speeches and interviews, despite some questions being raised about its validity in recent years.

The account was stripped out of a Vanity Fair cover story in 2017 after ‘fact checkers raised questions about its accuracy,’ a biography said.

The anecdote was cut from the cover story ‘after consulting P&G and advertising historians,’ according to Tom Bower’s book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors.

Harry and Meghan enjoy VERY steamy salsa dance before quick kiss

Meghan’s speech in full

(bold section said in Spanish) 

On lessons in her life, Meghan Markle said: ‘I’d like to start in Spanish because we are in your country, my husband and I, and because I feel the embrace in Colombia. It’s incredible. 

‘So thank you, thank you very much, because the culture, the history, everything has been like a dream on this trip. 

‘And I’m sorry that my Spanish isn’t perfect, because I learned it in Argentina 20 years ago, but I’m trying [it] here because I can feel this community and this feeling is the best in the world.

‘So thank you very much to the vice president, my friend, thank you very much. Well, now in English. 

‘I would say, from my standpoint, that I was very fortunate that from a very young age to feel as though my voice was being heard. And I think that is a luxury that a lot of young girls and women aren’t often afforded.

‘I was 11-years-old, and you may know this story, I had seen a commercial that I felt was sexist, and I wrote a letter, several letters, about it, and the commercial was changed when you’re 11-years-old, and you realise very quickly that your small voice can have a very large impact.

‘I think it creates the framework to feel empowered to use your voice, because you know you’re being listened to. It doesn’t ever feel good to use your voice and no one hears you. That’s not ideal.

‘So for us and the work that we do with our Archewell Foundation, certainly the work that we do as parents, as I do as a mother, is ensuring that young girls feel as though their voices are being heard, and also that young boys are being raised to listen and to hear those young women as well.

‘And the same goes for adult women and men. This isn’t something that can be solely responsible and in the hands of just women.

‘Yes, we work incredibly well together as a team, but as my husband is great testament to, the role of men in this of empowering women, of allowing them to know that their voices are heard, starting at a young age all the way through adulthood, is key.

‘So at the Archewell Foundation, we are very, very dedicated to creating a sense of community, but also one in which women are heard and that their ideas are really felt and implemented in the programming that we do.

‘So we just recently launched a programme called The Parents Network, which is for parents who have lost children or have encountered the worst possible challenges and level of grief as a result of online harms, and allowing those mothers, those parents, to be heard, is very key to the work that we’re doing.

‘We also have something called The Welcome Project where we are working with women, specifically, who have been displaced.

‘And really giving them projects and work that are comparable to the work that I have done in the UK with something called the Hub Community Kitchen which was also women and community hearing each other, supporting each other.

‘You know, you might be cooking together, you might be doing a craft together, but what are you doing at the same time [is that] you’re working on your mental health, you’re working on your emotional healing, you’re working towards supporting each other with micro finance and business building and partnership.

‘So these are all the ways in which I see the spirit of community and of us supporting each other as women play themselves out in so many different facets of our lives.’

After being asked about what inspires her, the Duchess said: ‘For me, I think I find inspiration in so many of the strong women that are around me. My mother being one of them.

‘I think life is full of surprises and can be quite complex. And we (as Meghan turned to the Colombian vice president) have talked about over the past few days you finding your inspiration and this fighting spirit and for me, we talked about the power of words as well.

‘So much of how I approach things is through the lens of [it’s] less about the fight, that’s not interesting to me, and more about how do we show up in this space and wash things over with love and kindness and generosity.

‘And we talked about this the other day and of course that is part of that same spirit that you have in you. That you see something wrong and you go to fix it. Maybe that’s just a very female thing. Whether it’s a fan or something else.

‘That’s what we do. As women we are multi-taskers and we are fixers. And so when I try to look at the conditions in which we’ll make women most comfortable in the space, that’s multifaceted.

‘And that includes finding ways to create political space, where women’s voices can be heard.

‘In business, where women can have a seat at the table and be in positions of leadership, having examples as you do with your vice president.

‘We all know how much representation matters. We all know that if you see someone who looks like you, who talks like you, who comes from a community like yours, that you can believe it’s possible to also be in a similar position of power so you’re not underestimating yourself, you’re not underestimating your worth, you’re not underestimating your future.

‘Instead, you’re leaning into the possibility that every single thing can happen because you have conditions surrounding you and examples in front of you that indicate that you, too, can help to change the world.

‘And I think in the small ways that women are doing that each day and the larger ways that we are doing that as a community, those are the elements that continue to inspire me to use my voice.

‘Because I also recognise how small it feels when you don’t. It doesn’t feel great to suffer in silence or even just sit in silence if in those moments you want to be heard or if you have something to say.

‘So I think part of the role-modeling that I certainly try to do as a mother is to encourage our daughter – at three she has found her voice and we are so proud of that, because that is how we, as I was saying, create the conditions in which there is a ripple effect of young girls and young women knowing that if someone else is encouraging them to use their voice and be heard, that’s what they are going to do.

‘They are going to create a very different environment than so many of us grew up in, where our voices were meant to be smaller and now, in raising them, we’re changing the conditions and the environment where everyone has space to be the best version of themselves.’

Making her final remarks to the panel, Meghan Markle said as Prince Harry listened from a seat in the audience:  ‘I think when we really look at how we can continue to inspire and create change, all of the examples I was listing earlier from our standpoint, certainly through the Archewell Foundation, are key elements in doing that.

‘And I can start at the very grassroots level, I do believe that also starts at home, modelling that behaviour very young and seeing it work its way through.

‘From my standpoint, how I will continue to express this, both through our foundation and through being able to move through the world, I suppose, is just looking at this as my chapter of joy.

‘And the more that you are able to look at your life and really, truly, recognise that if you’re going to be grateful for your life, you have to be grateful for all aspects of it.

‘The parts that were opportunities of growth and may have felt very difficult as well as the parts that feel inspiring, joyful and full.

‘I think part of the role-modelling doesn’t necessarily need to be a large plan, it just needs to be an intention and my intentionality is to enjoy this chapter and to be able to move through every piece of that as best as I can, modelling that if we are in the spirit of gratitude and of generosity, how we are able to connect with each other as women and how we are able to move through the world in a much freer way, I think is part of how we continue to create the conditions that I was speaking about earlier.

‘And you may have noticed, my husband and I were talking about it this morning, I just really relaxed on this trip – that’s probably because it’s Colombia and you all know how to have fun.

‘There is something so liberating about being able to be yourself and be comfortable in your skin and be surrounded in a space that is excited to see you exactly the way that you are.

‘I think that is part of the chapter for me, of joy, that will hopefully continue to inspire and allow me to keep doing the work that we love to do, which is to just be of service and to see other people live their lives through that same joyful spirit.’