Before she became Prince Harry‘s bride and joined the royal family, Meghan Markle had an interesting life of her own.
WATCH: Meghan Markle calls out ‘Suits’ creator at One Young World Summit
On Tuesday the 22nd of October, the Duchess of Sussex will return to one of her former charities – One Young World – to speak at the opening ceremony of the summit at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
While she and the Duke of Sussex have their own foundation (Sussex Royal), sources told Vanity Fair that Meghan was reluctant to relinquish her ties with the organization entirely.
“It was very difficult for Meghan to close the chapter on her previous passions, so she’s been so excited to be able to join One Young World again this year in London. Inspiring young people is so important to her and she’s been able to tie her Vice-Presidency of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust into a really impactful program with One Young World, a charity that has been dear to her heart for more than five years,” a friend told the publication.
Last week, Buckingham Palace announced that One Young World had partnered with The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to bring 53 young leaders from across the Commonwealth to attend the One Young World summit – which, according to the One Young World website is “a global forum for young leaders, bringing together 2,000 young people from over 190 countries around the world to accelerate social impact.”
One Young World co-founders Kate Robertson and David Jones told Vanity Fair:
“We are thrilled that the Duchess of Sussex will be returning to our stage next week. She is a much-loved member of the One Young World community who has supported us since 2014; she’s an inspiration to young leaders all over the world, and we’re delighted to be partnering with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, of which the Duchess is Vice President, to provide scholarships for young leaders from every Commonwealth country to attend the One Young World Summit in London.”
According to the publication, Meghan became one of the One Young World counsellors for the 2014 summit in Dublin.
Starring as Rachel Zane on Suits at the time, the now-mother-of-one spoke of the importance of women’s rights and the role men play in achieving equality.
“When I was asked to be a Counsellor at One Young World my response was a resounding ‘yes.’ One Young World invites young adults from all over the world who are actively working to transform the socio-political landscape by being the greater good. They are delegates who are speaking out against human rights violations, environmental crises, gender equality issues, discrimination and injustice. They are the change,” the Duchess once said according to the One Young World website.
Meghan also attended the 2016 Summit in Ottawa.
