Meghan and Prince Harry took part in a video call with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai to mark the International Day of the Girl. During their chat, the Oxford graduate asked the Duke and Duchess of Sussex how they have been spending the months-long lockdown in California, prompting them to give a sweet update on their son, Archie Harrison.
The pair acknowledged spending most of their time at home because of the ongoing pandemic had given them the possibility to be always close to Archie and, as a consequence, experience with him his “firsts”.
After both Meghan and Harry burst into laughter saying they have been “on Zoom” throughout the past few months, the Duchess continued: “But outside of that, with our little one.”
Harry chimed in saying: “We were both there for his first steps, his first run, his first fall, his first everything.”
The Duchess continued: “And it’s just fantastic, because I think in so many ways we are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow, and in the absence of COVID we would be travelling and working more externally, and we would have missed a lot of those moments.
“So I think it’s been a lot of good family time.”
During their conversation with Malala, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex highlighted the importance of empowering girls across the world by putting them in school.
Meghan, who has been an outspoken advocate for female empowerment and education accessible to all, said: “When young girls have access to education, everyone wins and everyone succeeds and it just opens the door for societal success at the highest level, so we’re really happy to join you today.”
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Prince Harry went on to highlight that millions of girls across the world had already been barred from getting an education before coronavirus swept across the world.
The health emergency has likely made the situation even worse for other girls who have seen their education cut short.
He said: “We do take it for granted and it is a privilege but every single person, every single child, every single young person needs an education.
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“To know there’s over 130 million girls out of education right now, before the pandemic, and the numbers are only going to go up, it worries me and it probably worries all of us, the effect that is going to have not just on the individual, but on the family, and community, for the country and the world at large.”
According to the Malala Fund, the non-for-profit organisation created by Malala to fight for women’s right to an education, as many as 20 millions girls may have had their education cut short because of the pandemic.
Meghan added: “So much is at stake if we don’t give a young woman an opportunity to learn and to get an education.
“I think there’s no greater time for all of us to acknowledge that with everything else happening with COVID, on International Day of the Girl, for each of us to make a commitment that yes, the layers upon layers that are happening in this context of COVID-19 are immense but all it has done is add on top of the problems that already existed.”
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