Meghan Markle has hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with a group of teenage girls to encourage them to make their voices heard.

The Duchess of Sussex spoke with the young activists – primarily girls of colour – who are part of the US non-profit organisation Girls Inc.

It was intended to give the 13 to 18-year-olds a platform to ‘help define a path forward and continue making an impact’, according to a post on the Sussexes’ Archewell website.

The duchess, who is expecting her second child, was recently reunited with her husband Prince Harry after he travelled back to the UK to attend his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral.

The couple have had an eventful start to 2021, with the fall-out from their bombshell interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey still making headlines around the world.

Meghan has rarely been seen in public as she prepares to give birth to their second child, a girl.

Both her and and Harry recently signed up to chair a global concert which is being held from LA to encourage a more equal distribution of the Covid vaccine.

At the Girls Inc event, she was joined by leaders from the organisation and The National Women’s Law Centre, which advocates women’s legal rights.

They spoke of ‘everyday struggles during Covid-19’, including mental health, racism and ‘identity loss and isolation’, according to the blog post.

It said the group had ambitions of medical professionals, senators, and presidents, adding that /as young activists, these girls are already making an impact around education, social justice, and health and wellness in their own schools and communities’.

It continues: ‘The girls who attended had strong and incisive perspectives on issues critical to girls today.’

The duchess ‘reflected on the impact of trailblazing women throughout history’ and asked the group to share their female role models which ’embolden them to challenge injustice’.

Some of the responses included American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, as well as Kala Bagai, one of the first South Asian women to immigrate to the US in the early 20th century.

The post said: ‘Amid the pandemic, the duchess has been engaging with communities of girls and girl-serving organizations, taking an approach of listening to and learning directly from a new generation of leaders.

‘All throughout the past year, she has convened conversations with women and girls, spoken with gender icons as well as new leaders, and partnered with key organizations advocating for a more equitable and just future.’

Some of the previous events Meghan has taken part in included a virtual mentoring session with a teenage girl from volunteer group LA Works and the charitable trust ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation during Women’s History Month.

On Black History Month, she spoke with diverse young poets from the organisation Get Lit – Words Ignite that was focused on creating change through the power of words.

The post said: ‘This work will continue as part of Archewell Foundation’s commitment to building compassionate communities that uplift women and girls, and serves as a reflection of the long-standing record of advocacy by the duchess, who has been standing up for equity since she was a young girl herself.’

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