Making her first public appearance since her shock comments about royal life sparked concern among the royal family, Meghan Markle was all smiles as she arrived at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the Opening Ceremony of the One Young World Summit.
WATCH: Meghan admits she’s been struggling to cope
The Duchess of Sussex looked to be in high spirits as she donned an Aritzia’s Babaton mid-length purple dress— a colour which is traditionally associated with royalty— and Manolo Blahnik BB 90 navy suede pumps. Many will remember that the 38-year-old previously wowed in the purple number months before during a visit to Birkenhead while pregnant with her son, Archie.
The global forum brings together 2,000 young people from our 190 countries in an attempt to promote social impact and encourage the younger generation to become responsible and effective leaders. The new-mum, who has long been a supporter and attended her first summit meeting in Dublin in 2014, is the Vice-President of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust— the leading partner with One Young World. As part of her role, the American actress works alongside the Queen and her husband Prince Hary to support and fund the young leaders.
The event comes less than a week after Prince Harry confirmed rumours of a royal rift in their tell-all documentary titled, ‘Harry & Meghan: An African Journey’.
While thousands of fans appreciated their earnest comments which were no doubt a breath of fresh air, the royal family was “fairly astonished” and deeply disturbed by the “level of personal detail” Harry and Meghan shared in the documentary.
“There seems to be a lot of bemusement within the royal family about what exactly Harry and Meghan are trying to achieve, as members of the royal family do not usually speak in such detail about personal matters,” an insider told E! News. “It’s fair to say that there is a deep sense of unease in the royal households about the direction this is all headed.”
Harry’s unexpected remarks about his strained relationship with his brother William is also said to have left a bitter taste in his mouth, with an insider claiming he was profusely offended he’d confirmed rumours of a royal rift.
“William is extremely concerned about Harry and Meghan,” a royal also told Us Weekly. “Even though the brothers have grown apart, William still cares about Harry and is hoping that he’ll open up to him about his current struggles. William wants to be there for Harry and hates seeing him in such a bad place. Despite their differences, blood is thicker than water.”
During the rare interview, Harry was asked by journalist Tom Bradby whether he was at odds with his brother. After a brief pause, the new dad to Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor admitted their relationship is, in fact, fractured.
“Umm… part, part of this role and part of this job and part of this family being under the pressure that it’s under, inevitably, stuff happens,” the Duke of Sussex began, initially laughing at the question.
“But look: We’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers — and we’re certainly on different paths at the moment. But I’ll certainly always be there for him as I know he’ll always be there for me.”
He continued: “We don’t see each other as much… we’re so busy. But I love him dearly and the majority of the stuff is created out of nothing. But as brothers, you have good days, you have bad days.”
The touching documentary also featured a heartfelt interview with the former Suits actress who admitted she was ill-prepared for the intense amount of backlash she was set to receive. In fact, she said life has been “tough” since becoming a member of the royal family.
“Look any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable,” the Duchess of Sussex said.
“And so that was made really challenging and then when you have a newborn, you know…and especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot, so you add this on top of just trying to be a new mum or trying to be a newlywed, it’s, um…Yeah, well I guess…and also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s, uh, it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
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