MEGHAN MARKLE HAS admitted that it was “devastating” for her to return to the United States and see the state of affairs it was in.
Speaking at a virtual event organised by The 19th, a US non-profit, non-partisan newsroom, the Duchess said it was “so sad to see where our country was in that moment”.
But she claimed that she was inspired by the response to the death of George Floyd, and was looking forward to using her voice in a “way I haven’t been able to of late”.
“To come back and to just see the state of affairs, I think at the onset if I’m being honest it was just devastating,” she said.
“It was so sad to see where our country was in that moment and if there’s any silver lining in that I would say that in the weeks that were happening after the murder of George Floyd, in the peaceful protests you were seeing, in the voices that were coming out, in the way that people were actually owning their role and acknowledging their role that they played, either actively or passively, in the discrimination of other people, specifically of the black community.
“It shifted from sadness to a feeling of absolute inspiration because I can see that the tide is turning.
“It’s not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias, but I think to see the changes that are being made right now, it’s something that I look forward to being a part of and using my voice in a way I haven’t been able to of late.”
Floyd died after a police officer held him down by pressing his knee into his neck for almost nine minutes, in Minneapolis on 25 May.
The incident was captured on video and sparked a wave of anti-racism protests in the US and across the globe, including in the UK and Ireland.
The Duchess’ comments come after it emerged she and Prince Harry had bought a property in the celebrity hotspot of Santa Barbara for a reported £11 million.
The couple had been house-hunting for some time after relocating to the US from Canada just before the coronavirus lockdown.
They plunged the royal family into a period of crisis when they announced earlier in the year they wanted to step back from their positions as senior royals and become financially independent.
A summit of senior royals was convened by the Queen at Sandringham to discuss the issue, with Harry sitting down for talks with his grandmother, his father, the Prince of Wales, and his brother, the Duke of Cambridge.
It was later announced they would no longer be working members of the monarchy, split their time between Canada and the UK, with the majority spent in North America, and no longer be known as HRH.
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