Meghan Markle tells young girls to ‘challenge injustice’ in virtual chat

Meghan Markle has told teenage girls to ‘challenge injustice’ during a virtual chat. 

The Duchess of Sussex held an online roundtable with 13 to 18-year-olds – primarily girls of colour – and spoke of ‘everyday struggles during Covid-19’.

Meghan said these included mental health, racism and ‘identity loss and isolation’.

The duchess – joined by the leaders of Girls Inc and The National Women’s Law Centre, which advocates women’s legal rights – urged the ‘young activists’ to share the challenges their generation faced in order for their voices to be heard. 

The group all have ambitions of being medical professionals, senators, and presidents, a post on the Archewell website – the foundation set up by the Sussexes – read.

It said the roundtable gave the young women a platform to ‘help define a path forward and continue making an impact’.

It comes amid a Palace probe into allegations that Meghan – who is pregnant with a baby girl – bullied royal aides during her time as a senior royal.

Meghan Markle (pictured) has told teenage girls to ‘challenge injustice’ during a virtual chat

The group all have ambitions of being medical professionals, senators, and presidents, a post on the Archewell website (pictured) – the foundation set up by the Sussexes – read

The Duchess of Sussex is accused of ‘driving out’ two PAs and shattering the confidence of another member of Kensington Palace staff.

Meghan has denied the allegations and accused the newspaper of being ‘used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative’ about her. 

It also comes in the wake of Harry and Meghan’s tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview – in which they accused the Royal Family of institutional racism.

Meghan, Prince Harry and their son Archie are currently living in an £11million mansion in California after the duke returned from the UK following Prince Philip’s funeral. 

Today’s statement on the Archewell website reads: ‘As young activists, these girls are already making an impact around education, social justice, and health and wellness in their own schools and communities.’

Pregnant Meghan, Prince Harry and their son Archie are currently living in an £11million mansion in California after the duke returned from the UK following Prince Philip’s funeral

The Duchess of Sussex (pictured with Prince Harry) held an online roundtable with 13 to 18-year-olds – primarily girls of colour – and spoke of ‘everyday struggles during Covid-19’

It continues: ‘The girls who attended had strong and incisive perspectives on issues critical to girls today.’

The duchess also ‘reflected on the impact of trailblazing women throughout history’ and asked the group to share their female role models which ’embolden them to challenge injustice’.

Some of the responses included American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, as well as Kala Bagai, one of the first South Asian women to immigrate to the US in the early 20th century.

The post said: ‘Amid the pandemic, the duchess has been engaging with communities of girls and girl-serving organizations, taking an approach of listening to and learning directly from a new generation of leaders.

‘All throughout the past year, she has convened conversations with women and girls, spoken with gender icons as well as new leaders, and partnered with key organizations advocating for a more equitable and just future.’

Prince Harry and Meghan attend a reception for young people, community and civil society leaders at the Residence of the British High Commissioner in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2019

Some of the previous events Meghan has taken part in included a virtual mentoring session with a teenage girl from volunteer group LA Works and the charitable trust ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation during Women’s History Month.

On Black History Month, she spoke with diverse young poets from the organisation Get Lit – Words Ignite that was focused on creating change through the power of words.

The post said: ‘This work will continue as part of Archewell Foundation’s commitment to building compassionate communities that uplift women and girls, and serves as a reflection of the long-standing record of advocacy by the duchess, who has been standing up for equity since she was a young girl herself.’