Meghan Markle gets emotional addressing 'dark realities' of life

Meghan Markle addressed the harsh realities of life while honouring Prince Harry for empowering her and ensuring her voice is heard.

During a panel discussion at the Afro Women and Power Conference in Cali, Colombia, on Sunday afternoon, the Duchess of Sussex reflected on her husband’s support and the influence it has had on her, reported Mirror.

She also highlighted how their three-year-old daughter has "already found her voice" and paid tribute to her mother, Doria.

Discussing Harry, 39, who later joined her on stage as they held hands affectionately, Meghan, 43, shared: "Yes, we work incredibly well together as a team, but as my husband is great testament to, 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.

"For us and the work that we do with our Archewell Foundation, certainly the work that 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. And the same goes for adult women and men. This isn't something that can be solely responsible and in the hands of just women." 

Speaking about Lilibet, Meghan added: "I think part of the role modelling that I certainly try to do as a mother is to encourage our daughter, who at three, she has found her voice, and we're so proud of that.

"That is how we, as I was saying, create the conditions in which there's a ripple effect of young girls and young women knowing that if someone else is encouraging them to use their voice and be heard, that's what they're going to do, and they're going to create a very different environment than so many of us grew up in where our voices were meant to be smaller. 

"And now in raising them, we're changing the conditions in the environment where everyone has space to be the best version of themselves."

Meghan added: "I find inspiration in so many of the strong women that are around me. Of course, my mother being one of them."

Meghan also spoke about her and Harry's community work. She said: "At the Archewell Foundation, we are very, very dedicated to creating a sense of community, but also one in which women are heard and that their ideas are really felt and implemented in the programming that we do.

"So we just recently launched a program called the parents network, which is for parents who have lost children or have encountered the worst possible challenges and level of grief as a result of online harms, and allowing those mothers, those parents, to be heard, is very key to the work that we're doing."

"I was 11 years old, and you may know this story, I had seen a commercial that I felt was sexist, and I wrote a letter, several letters, about it. And the commercial was changed when you're 11 years old, and you realise very quickly that your small voice can have a very large impact. I think it creates the framework to feel empowered to use your voice, because you know you're being listened to."

Later, Harry and Meghan are expected to visit the Petronio Alvarez Festival, which is a celebration of Afro-Colombian music. It will be the final event of their four-day trip to the South American nation