On the final day of her four-day tour of Colombia with Prince Harry, Meghan Marklecalled this stage of her life her “chapter of joy.”
Meghan, 43, took part in the Afro-Descendant Women and Power: Voices of Equity summit on Aug. 18, which spotlighted Afro-Colombian women leaders speaking out about the challenges they face as a result of racism, gender bias and other issues.
Speaking on a panel, the Duchess of Sussex said she was looking at this time in her life as her “chapter of joy.”
“The more that you are able to look at your life and really, truly recognize 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 for growth and may have felt really difficult, as well as the parts that feel inspiring, joyful and full,” she said.
Meghan Markle speaking on a panel in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty
She added, “My intentionality is to enjoy this chapter and to be able to move through every piece of that as best as I can.”
The event, held at the Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura in Cali, saw Meghan, Binaifer Nowrojee and her host for the trip, Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez, speak about how uplifting women’s voices has been a cornerstone of each of their life’s work.
“Because we are in your country, my husband and I can feel this embrace from Colombia — it’s incredible,” said Meghan, who began her remarks in Spanish before switching to English. “The culture, the history — all of it — was a dream. This trip was a dream.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Colombia on Aug. 16, 2024.
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Illuminating women’s experiences and enhancing women’s voices is one of the cornerstones of the Archewell Foundation, the nonprofit organization she and Prince Harry founded in 2020, she said.
“I was very, very fortunate [that] at a young age to feel as though my voice was being heard, and I think that’s a luxury that a lot of young girls and women aren’t often afforded,” Meghan said, referencing when she wrote letters aiming to have a commercial’s language changed to be less sexist when she was 11 years old.
She continued, “For us and the work that we do with the Archewell Foundation and certainly the work 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.”
Meghan added, “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,” and pointed to her husband, Prince Harry, as an example of someone who does that work.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Colombia on Aug. 17, 2024.
Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty
During the panel discussion, Meghan added that she is consistently inspired by both her mother, Doria Ragland, and her daughter, Princess Lilibet, who turned 3 earlier this summer.
“I find inspiration in the strong women around me, of course, my mother being one of them,” she said. “So much of how I approach things is through the lens of less about the fight — that’s not interesting to me — and more about how do we show up in a space and wash things over with love and kindness and generosity?”
Meghan added that she understood what it was like to not use her voice, 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,” she said.
She spoke about encouraging her daughter, “who, at 3, has found her voice,” Meghan said, “and we are so proud of that.”
Meghan Markle arriving for a panel in Cali, Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty
She added that she and Prince Harry felt so welcomed while in Colombia and that she personally had felt “relaxed,” telling the crowd of being in the South American country that “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.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Images
Later on Aug. 18, Meghan and Prince Harry attended the Petronio Alvarez Pacific Music Festival, an event that celebrated Afro-Colombian music and dance in Cali. The gathering is the world’s biggest celebration and display of Afro-Colombian music in the world.
“Your country is so beautiful!” said Meghan, who translated for Prince Harry when he wanted to address the audience at the festival.
