# Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. In 2019, she gave birth to Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and in 2021 she gave birth to Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

## Quotes

* It’s surreal being back because I haven’t been back since I graduated, and as I am walking around I remember things like the schlep of getting to South Campus from up north. The 24-hour Burger King also definitely helped me put on the Freshman Fifteen.
** Speaking in 2014 on her first visit back to Northwestern University since she graduated in 2003 (a promotional visit for Suits) as quoted in Northwestern Now, a university publication
* I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends. But at the same time, it’s all about balance. Because I work out the way I do, I don’t ever want to feel deprived. I feel that the second you do that is when you start to binge on things. It’s not a diet; it’s lifestyle eating.
** "Before Harry: The Meghan Markle Interview", Best Health Magazine Canada (May 2016)
* ​I was able to see the unshakable bonds between service men and women on the ground together, but at the same time to feel the palpable longing for family and friends while deployed.
** At the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games 2018
* Suffrage is not simply about the right to vote but also about what that represents. The basic and fundamental human right of being able to participate in the choices for your future and that of your community.
** At the celebration of 125 years of women's suffrage in New Zealand
* Paid leave should be a national right, rather than a patchwork option limited to those whose employers have policies in place, or those who live in one of the few states where a leave program exists
** In a letter to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, urges Schumer and Pelosi to pass federal paid family leave" (October 21, 2021)

### UN speech on International Women's Day 2015

    The Independent (August 4, 2019)
* I am proud to be a woman and a feminist.
* Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making. The way that we change that, in my opinion, is to mobilize girls and women to see their value as leaders, and to support them in these efforts.
* It is said that girls with dreams become women with vision. May we empower each other to carry out such vision – because it isn't enough to simply talk about equality. One must believe it. And it isn't enough to simply believe in it. One must work at it. Let us work at it. Together. Starting now.

### Criticisms of Donald Trump

    Newsweek (June 2, 2019)
    Newsweek (May 28, 2019)
* Of course Trump is divisive—think about female voters alone. I think it was in 2012, the Republican Party lost the female vote by 12 points. That’s a huge number and as misogynistic as Trump is—and so vocal about it—that’s a huge chunk of it.
* You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting.
* We film Suits in Toronto and I might just stay in Canada. I mean come on, if that’s the reality we are talking about, come on, that is a game changer in terms of how we move in the world here.
** Speaking as to the then-hypothetical Trump presidency on a panel about Donald Trump on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in 2016

### Larry King Live interview

    The Independent (August 4, 2019)
* No matter what you look like, you should be taken seriously. I think it’s really great to be able to be a feminist, and be feminine. To embrace both.

### Engagement interview (November 2017)

    Time (November 2017)
* I don’t think that I would call it a whirlwind in terms of our relationship. Obviously there have been layers attached to how public it has become after we had a good five, six months almost with just privacy, which was amazing. But no, I think we were able to really have so much time just to connect and we never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other, even though we were obviously doing a long distance relationship. So it’s — we made it work.
* Yes, as a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing. I said, ‘Can I say yes now?’
** Asked if her response to the prince's marriage proposal was an instant yes, and addressing her response to Harry himself
* We should protect her privacy and not reveal too much of that.
** About the mutual friend who introduced them
* It’s so interesting because we talk about it now and even then, you know, because I’m from the States, you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family. While I now understand very clearly there is a global interest there, I didn’t know much about him and so the only thing that I had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was — I had one question. I said, ‘Well, is he nice?’ Because if he wasn’t kind, then it didn’t seem like it would make sense. So we went and met for a drink then, I think, very quickly into that we said, ‘What are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.’
* I think for both of us, though, it was really refreshing because given that I didn’t know a lot about him, everything that I have learned about him, I learned through him as opposed to having grown up around different news stories or tabloids, whatever else. Anything I learned about him and his family was what he would share with me, and vice versa. So for both of us it was a very authentic and organic way to get to know each other.
* There is a misconception that because I have worked in the entertainment industry that this would be something I would be familiar with. But even though I had been on my show for I guess six years at that point, and working before that, I have never been part of tabloid culture. I have never been in pop culture to that degree and lived relatively quiet life, even though I focus so much on my job. So that was a really stark difference out of the gate. And I think we were just hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths that I made the choice to not read anything, positive or negative, it just didn’t make sense. So instead we focused all of our energies on nurturing our relationship.
* Of course it’s disheartening. It’s a shame that that is the climate in this world to focus that much on that or that that would be discriminatory in that sense. But I think, you know, at the end of the day I’m really just proud of who I am and where I come from and we have never put any focus on that. We have just focused on who we are as a couple. So when you take all those extra layers away and all of that noise, I think it makes it really to just enjoy being together and tune all the rest of that out.
** On the question as to her feelings about the media's obsession with her ethnicity
* It’s incredible, I think, you know, a.) to be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother. All of those layers have been so important for me so that when I met her I had such a deep understanding and, of course, incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. And we’ve had a really — she’s an incredible woman.
** About meeting The Queen

## Quotes about Meghan

* I've heard about the marriage, but didn't know about Markle's interests. Naturally pleased to hear it. Sounds as though she may, for many reasons, shake up the royal family.
** Noam Chomsky
** Spoken as a response to the information that the duchess had recommended his book Who Rules the World? on her blog, The Tig (source)

## External links

* Official British Monarchy page about the Duchess of Sussex
* The Tig (archival links from her now-defunct blog)