Meghan Markle talks about courage and perseverance in her first speech in UK since quitting the royal job

Meghan Markle talked about perseverance as she delivered a speech at the One Young World summit in the Bridgewater Hall on Monday.

Prince Harry's wife in her gender equality speech in Manchester, said that the first year she joined One Young World in Dublin, she worked with a young woman from Eritrea, adding: 'She had escaped her home country, fleeing with bullets fired above her head. I still remember it so well.'

'I remember my shock, and I also remember her courage, my recognition of how much continues to go on each day with so many turning a blind eye. And yet despite all odds, she like so many still persevered,' she continued.

Meghan also reflected on the importance of young people's impact in the world, saying: 'My husband has long advocated for important and necessary impact in the world, focusing a huge part of his life's work on the youth.'

'So for both of us, bearing witness to the power you hold in your hands and the unbridled enthusiasm and energy that you have to see things come to fruition — it is just an absolute privilege.'

She went on: 'But One Young World saw in me what I wanted to see fully in myself, they saw in me just as I see in you the present and the future.'

'We often here people say the time is now but I'm going to double down on that by saying your time is now. The important work can't wait for tomorrow.'

Archie and Lilibet's mom said that by 2019 her life had 'changed significantly', as she became a mother: 'I joined you in London in 2019 and by that point, my life had charged rather significantly,' she said. 'I was now married and I was now a mum. My world view had expanded exponentially, seeing the global community through the eyes of my child.

'And I would ask, "what is this world he would come to adopt? And what can we do, what can I do to make it better".

She continued: 'I am thrilled that my husband is able to join me this time, to be able to see and witness firsthand my respect for this organisation and all that it provides as well as accomplishes.'

Meghan shared her feelings about  the One Young World, saying it has been 'an integral part of my life' for so many years before she met Prince Harry. 'To meet again here, on UK soil, with him by my side makes it all feel full circle.'

Harry's sweetheart said that before her speech, she was able to meet with some of the event's delegates. She called the meeting 'incredibly inspiring', adding that 'resounding themes came up' about 'representation, inclusion and access'.

Meghan said: 'You are the future. I would like to add to that, you are also the present, you are the ones driving the positive and necessary change needed across the globe now in this very moment.'