Public Role

The Duchess of Sussex became a member of the Royal Family in 2018 upon her marriage to Prince Harry. She will perform Royal duties in support of The Queen through engagements at home and overseas, alongside a growing portfolio of charitable work and patronages.

To see what charities The Duchess of Sussex supports click here.

Before Meghan became The Duchess of Sussex she was commitmentted to causes such as social justice and women’s empowerment. The Duchess worked with the following organizations:

One Young World
Her Royal Highness became involved with the organisation One Young World in 2014 when she was asked to become a Counsellor for the charity. One Young World is a global forum that gathers together young leaders in order to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. She attended panels for One Young World in Dublin, Ireland and Ottawa, Canada.

UN Women
In 2015, The Duchess became the UN Women’s Advocate for Women’s Political Participation and Leadership. In this role, she gave a speech on the importance of gender equality on International Women’s Day for UN Women in New York City. Ahead of her appointment to this role, Her Royal Highness spent time at the UN’s New York office to understand the organisation’s day-to-day work before embarking on a learning mission to Rwanda. On this trip The Duchess met female parliamentarian leaders in Kigali and visited Gihembe refugee camp, where women were working on leadership and empowerment at a grassroots level.

World Vision
In addition to her role with UN Women and One Young World, Her Royal Highness became a Global Ambassador for World Vision in 2016. As part of her work with the charity The Duchess visited Rwanda on a clean water campaign that would work to allow young children to continue their education. In 2017, Her Royal Highness undertook a second learning mission with the organisation when she visited India with World Vision to bring a greater awareness to girls’ lack of access to education. In the slum communities of Mumbai, The Duchess witnessed the work of the Myna Mahila Foundation who empower women through access to menstrual hygiene products and employment opportunities. Struck by her experience, she wrote an op-ed for Time Magazine about the stigmatization of menstrual health management and its long term hindrance to girls’ education. View it here.

Information taken from Royal.uk.

In December 2014 Her Royal Highness traveled to Afghanistan and Spain as part of the United Service Organizations Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Holiday Tour.