It's been a whirlwind week for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after news of their engagement was announced on Monday. Since then the world has wanted to know every detail about the woman who has won Harry's heart. The actress is known for her role in US TV drama Suits and as UN Women Ambassador, but now we have a glimpse into Meghan as a young girl. In a new video on news site Inside Edition, we see an 11-year-old Meghan talking about gender issues and how her own letters on the subject led to a change in language on a TV advert.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their first outing together in Nottingham
Nick News host Linda Ellerbee provided the video footage to Inside Edition, which shows a remarkably confident Meghan at just 11 years. After watching an advert for Ivory dishwasher soap which said 'women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,' Meghan decided to write letters asking for the 'sexist' language to be changed from 'women' to 'people'. Her father encouraged her to write to Proctor & Gamble, civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred and the first lady at the time, Hillary Clinton. She also wrote to Linda Ellerbee, who interviewed Meghan for the news station in 1993.
Meghan said in the video: "I don’t think it is right for kids to grow up thinking that mum does everything. If you see something that you don’t like or offended by on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people and you can really make a difference, not just for yourself but for lots of other people.” After Meghan's protest, the advert changed the terminology to 'people'.
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Meghan actually spoke of the story in her International Women's Day speech in 2015. She said: "My eleven year old self worked out that if I really wanted someone to hear me, well then I should write a letter to the First Lady." She added: "And a few weeks went by and to my surprise I received letters of encouragement from Hillary Clinton, from Linda Ellerbee, and from Gloria Allred. It was amazing." On the soap company changing the wording in the advert, Meghan said: "It was at that moment that I realised the magnitude of my actions. At the age of eleven I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality."