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Meghan Markle, 39, and Prince Harry, 36, co-hosted a special episode for Time Magazine’s Time100 series via video link from their living room on Tuesday. The couple have been based in Montecito, Santa Barbara since July and since then their mansion has formed the backdrop for a series of virtual engagements.

Meghan is a long-term advocate for women’s and girls’ rights and on Tuesday she reflected her dedication to this cause with one item she chose to put on display behind her and Prince Harry.

Perched on their cream sofa Meghan and Harry spoke to Time editor-in-chief Edward Fesenthal.

Several items including a large lump of crystal, a vase of flowers, a candle and a photography book titled ‘Women’ were visible in the backdrop.

The book in question is the ‘Women: National Geographic Image Collection’ – a powerful collection of photographs from women all over the world.

The women featured in the book include friends’ of Meghan’s and people she has collaborated with in the past such as Jane Goodall, Oprah Winfrey and Christiane Amanpour—all of whom Markle seems to admire.

The book may have been a gift to Prince Harry as he worked with National Geographic to launch a photograph competition last year.

Speaking to Mr Fesenthal on the topic of ‘Engineering a Better World,’ and connecting the dots between issues like women’s empowerment and mental health, Meghan said: “Both of us realised that we can continue to champion these things that we’re passionate about.

“We can continue to do this work to try to affect change and help the people who need it most or the communities or environments that need it most, but it’s almost like you’re taking two steps forward and five steps backward if you can’t get to the root cause of the problem.”

She added: “Which at this point right now we see in a large way as a lot of what’s happening in the tech space.”

On why it’s important to make online communities healthier for everyone, Meghan said: “This isn’t just a tech problem.

“This isn’t solely a mental health or emotional wellbeing problem.

“This is a human problem. And what’s happening to all of us online is affecting us deeply offline.”

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Prince Harry called the negative impact of social media use a “global crisis.”

The Duke said: “What our job is, especially throughout these conversations, is to get people to listen to the experts and for them to explain how what’s happening in the online world is affecting the world.

“It is not restricted to certain platforms or certain social media conversations.

“This is a global crisis: a global crisis of hate, a global crisis of misinformation and a global health crisis.”

Meghan and Harry moved to the USA following their step down as senior royals in March.

The couple are expected to raise their son Archie Harrison in the States.

Despite leaving their royal roles behind Meghan and Harry have maintained their links with UK charitable organisations and have kept onto their patronages.

While they were due back in the UK for family events last summer the coronavirus pandemic has postponed their return to Britain for the foreseeable future.

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