Today, Meghan delivered a keynote speech at the Girl Up 2020 Leadership Summit, as part of a session called “The Time Is Now”.
In a pre-recorded video, the Duchess spoke about the need to “drown out the noise” of negative voices and speak out “even when it makes others feel uneasy”.
“There will always be negative voices and sometimes those voices can appear to be outsized, and sometimes they can appear to be painfully loud.
You can and will use your own voices to drown out the noise. Because that’s what it is – just noise.
But your voices are those of truth. And hope. And your voices can and should be much louder.”
She praised the group for the hard work that’s already been done to raise awareness of racial justice, climate change, mental health, civic engagement and public service.
The Duchess added —
“Believing in true equality is not enough – it’s going to take more than belief, we have to work for it every day; even when it’s hard and even when it makes others feel uneasy.
“We have to speak up for ourselves and we have to speak out for others who struggle to be heard.”
Girl Up was founded by the UN Foundation in 2010 to help support UN agencies that focus on adolescent girls.
The 2020 Girl Up Leadership Summit is its biggest yet, with nearly 40,000 attendees, aged 13-22, across 172 countries. Due to Covid-19 the entire summit is being held online.
Meghan concluded her speech with these supportive words.
“I am extraordinarily proud of what you’ve already accomplished. Please, continue to honor the conviction and compassion that’s awoken within you.
I will be cheering you on, so will my husband, so will Archie, as you all continue marching, advocating, and leading the way forward.”
Meghan has been following the Girl Up summit since its first day on July 13, when Michelle Obama spoke about the importance of girls’ education in a special message.
You can watch Meghan’s video message below —
Michelle Obama’s video message is below —
If you’d like to support Girl Up, you can visit their site and donate here.
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The Duchess had on a cobalt blue sleeveless blouse or dress for today’s video message.
One thought for her outfit is this top by New York designer Adam Lippes — The Pintucked silk crepe de chine top in bright blue, $990. The top had been reduced to $148 on The Outnet before selling out.
Thanks to Meghan’s Mirror for the suggestion.
A similar top in the same color, the scarf wrap shell in crepe, $356, is available on Adam Lippes’ site.
Elizabeth of Meghan’s Fashion suggested that Meghan could be wearing this dress from Banana Republic — the Poplin A-Line Shift Dress in Blue Macaw, $139. The dress is no longer available in the blue, however, it is still available in white, on sale for $83.
The dress shown in white below is also a great #MatchMegStyle piece for the white MagicLinen dress she was seen wearing last Friday while out in LA. You can see the post about that dress here.
It appears that the Duchess may have been wearing her Cartier ‘Love’ bangle bracelet in yellow gold.
She may also have had on one additional bracelet as there appears to be a longer chain or cord dangling from her wrist as well. This doesn’t surprise us as we know Meghan loves to layer her bracelets!
Speaking of MagicLinen just before, the company shared this update regarding the linen dress Meghan wore on their Instagram today.
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The blue of the shirt/dress looks almost too electric in the video, but I think that is down to the strangely poor quality of the video, as it looks quite nice on the Adam Lippes and Banana Republic pieces. I am sadly getting major Cher vibes from Meghan’s hair. I think the length is overwhelming on her, and the fact that she also has face-framing layers makes the overall length even more jarring.
BUT, my goodness, Meghan shows time and time again what a fantastic speaker she is. Her message is so powerful and so motivating – the nine minutes of the video just flew by as I was so engaged in what she was saying. I love the way she lights up whenever she mentions her family.
I really hope she is wearing the pin tucked top. It would look fabulous! I love Meghan in her striking colours.
So nice to see Meghan speaking about girls’ empowerment during times of crisis, even if it is just virtual. It’s been one of her main causes for such a long time, even pre-Duchess. So good to see Michelle Obama too! I finally got around to reading her book recently and watched the Netflix documentary about her book tour. She’s such a remarkable and fascinating person.
This blue color looks so great on her. I know she loves neutrals but when she does do color it emphasizes her natural beauty. I love the top and the dress and I tried really hard to figure out which option I might lean towards but both this top and this dress look exactly alike from the waist up! Also her hair has gotten SO long in quarantine! I’m not one to talk though as I have not cut my hair in a year and a half and it’s a few inches above my butt lol (finally made good on my promise to grow it out and donate it before I go completely gray) My guess is she’s been avoiding hair dressers like most of us during the pandemic and styling her own hair. I wondered if she might go natural in lockdown and we might see her natural curls but I guess not.
She is glowing
Meghan is a practiced public speaker, and speaks very effectively about this topic. Her message is powerful and she is clearly committed and passionate about it! I just love that bright, vibrant blue- its a wonderful color on Meghan- I think she just lights up in those glowing jewel tones.
Meghan looks amazing, but her hair, clothing and makeup do not help her look like the professional, experienced speaker that she is, representing an international UN initiative to empower women and girls. Her hair is distracting and the shorter bangs and layers that frame her face so beautifully are also distracting as she keeps reaching up to push them back. Meghan is wearing a LOT of makeup, including a lot of contouring with bronzer and highlighter, heavy eyeliner, lipstick, fake lashes? possibly.
This is NOT to say she doesn’t look gorgeous or that women shouldn’t wear make-up. I just feel with the extra-long straight hair worn over her shoulders, the heavy makeup and sleeveless top, she looks ready to go out dancing with her girl friends NOT address gender inequality in a professional setting. The blue-purple lighting also doesn’t help, since I associate that dim, colored light with nightclubs.
I think for this occasion, hair worn loose but smoothly tucked behind the ears or with a delicate braid in the front to hold it out of her face, a sleek ponytail or low bun, and one of her black suits/white shirt combos would look stunning. I always loved her sharp trouser suits- like the Alexander McQueen worn at first Endeavour Awards, the similarly gorgeous suit she wore to her first Well Child Awards, or even her Smart Works ensemble, which I thought was classy and flattering.
Sorry for the critique! I know Meghan gets a lot of unfair criticism online, and my comment is NOT meant to be a part of that. Like many commentators here, I am glad to hear Meghan finding her “post-royal” voice to speak up about important issues, and I think Meghan looks vivid, bright and beautiful in this video. I just like to imagine, if I were in Meghan’s shoes, or if I were a stylist, how I would have styled something differently.
Her hair IS a distraction. She chose to wear it hanging in the front covering her chest for some reason. While her recent video looks were simple and clean, this one stands out because of how the whole look draws attention to her hair.
Hey, I bought a swing dress in exactly this color right before the world shut down! I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet, but how thrilling to be on-trend with the Duchess of Sussex. 🙂
That blue is magnificent on her! She looks glowing and radiant – and her message is powerful and eloquent.
Bravo, Duchess!!
Lady Leah, I agree. I love the color! Meghan tends to stick to such neutral tones- the creams, whites and blacks are fine with me, but some of the olive/army green/tan or brown tones have not been my favorites- so when she DOES wear bright colors, she really shines. I’m thinking of the wonderful blue Safiyaa evening gown she wore in Fiji, the vivid purple Aritzia dress she wore twice, and of course, that gorgeous red Safiyaa gown at the Mountbatton Festival of Music. All rich, gorgeous colors that emphasized Meghan’s glow.