Meghan says she's 'glad to be back in the UK' during speech in Manchester
The Duchess of Sussex declared it was “very nice to be back in the UK” as she took centre stage to speak to a group of young leaders in Manchester.
Meghan delivered a keynote speech at the One Young World summit, making her first in-person address in Britain since quitting as a working royal amid the Megxit crisis more than two years ago.
She and her husband Prince Harry were greeted with huge cheers as they entered the auditorium.
Former actress Meghan told the 2,000 delegates how her life had changed when she last joined the summit in London in 2019 – singling out her role as a wife and a mother – but making no mention of becoming a senior royal the year before.
"I joined you in London in 2019. And by that point, it’s fair to say, my life had changed rather significantly. I was now married, and I was now a mom,” she said.
"My world view had expanded exponentially, seeing the global community through the eyes of my child," she added, speaking about her son Archie.
The trip comes just days after Meghan’s controversial interview with The Cut magazine, in which she said it takes "a lot of effort" to forgive when asked if there was room for forgiveness between her, the royals and her own family.
She said in the interview that "just by existing" she and Harry were "upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy" before they stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.
In Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on Monday evening, Megan spoke about the first time she was asked to be a counsellor for One Young World in 2014 and having a “pinch me moment”.
She said: "There I was, the girl from Suits. I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and long-standing respect and admiration for."
The duchess told the delegates: “You are the future, but 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."
Other keynote speakers included former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, musician Sir Bob Geldof and Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
But Meghan delivered the final address of the ceremony, declaring the summit open.
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It was the Sussexes first appearance in the UK since the Platinum Jubilee in June, when they appeared briefly at the service of thanksgiving and were not included in the line-up of working royals on the Palace balcony.
The couple travelled by train from London to Manchester, and flew commercial from the US to the UK.
Next stop for them will be Germany, for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year To Go event, which is taking place on Tuesday, before they return to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London, where Harry will deliver a speech on Thursday.