Royal tour: Duchess of Sussex thrills fans ahead of romantic reunion with Prince Harry
The Duchess of Sussex has hit a high note on her pioneering tour of Africa as she forges her own identity as a working royal. And her choice of outfit again had style watchers talking.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Duchess of Sussex has hit a high note on her pioneering tour of Africa, announcing new university scholarships for women.
The women’s rights trailblazer was speaking at the University of Johannesburg on Tuesday night (Australian time) about encouraging more women to attend university.
She was attending a round table discussion with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), of which she is patron.
Meghan was clearly proud of the announcement, and slightly nervous.
“I will use the note card because my goodness, this is the last bit that I can’t screw up,” the Duchess of Sussex said to laughter.
“I’m very, very happy that we’re able to announce today gender grants.”
The grants will be given to female students attending the University of Johannesburg, Stellenbosch University and the University of Western Cape, in Cape Town, South Africa.
“The goal here is to be able to have gender equality and to support women as they are working in research and higher education,” Meghan said.
“When a woman is empowered it changes absolutely everything and … starting an educational
atmosphere is a key point of that.”
MORE NEWS
Meghan’s surprise visit to kids in need
Meghan and Harry’s ‘secret language’
Call me: Meghan thrills students by Skyping in
Meghan wears headscarf for mosque visit
The photos that show how Meghan and Harry have changed
The Duchess, who has opted for low-key and thrifty fashions on this tour, was wearing a Banana Republic dress in her trademark trench coat style.
Meghan has been advocating for women’s rights throughout her personal engagements in Africa.
Prince Harry joined her at the first engagement in Nyanga, Cape Town’s murder capital, where they heard about how women were learning to protect themselves there.
Meghan said on Tuesday night that education was the key to changing the world.
“I’m so excited to be here. Education and higher education specifically is such a key element for growth, economical as well as personal growth and development,” she said.
“If you don’t have the support that is necessary so that you feel you can keep taking the next step, you’re stunting your growth.”
The Duchess added that without financial support she would not have been able to attend university.
“Families chipping in, scholarships, financial aid, all those things were the reason I was able to attend university,” she said.
Students from Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria were given separate Queen Elizabeth grants, the Duchess added.
One of the students who gave her a noisy welcome praised the Duchess.
Samukelisiwa Nomusa Shongwe, 19, said: “I think she is a great person. She has done so many things. She has contributed to society, especially to African society.
“She is very interested in playing a positive role by speaking about gender equality and gender abuse.”
Meanwhile, Harry visited the Mauwa Health Centre in Malawi, a remote clinic giving care to 23,000 residents.
“Care includes treatment of common illnesses, vaccination, contraceptives, pregnancy and delivery,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
He saw how medicines were being kept more safely despite the isolated conditions.
“Pharmacies-In-a-Box are prefabricated, solar powered and airconditioned storage facilities for medicines,” the palace said.
“They are low cost and can be installed in one to two days on a concrete slab, with 117 of the units using solar power.”
The royal couple will reunite later today to meet Nelson Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel, on the final day of their African tour.
The trio will meet at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in Johannesburg from 9pm Sydney time.
She is the widow of both South African President Mandela and Mozambican President Samora Machel.
It will be the second time Harry has met her.
Mr Mandela, who was often referred to as Madiba or Father of the Nation, was one of the key figures in negotiating freedom for black South Africans with the end of apartheid in 1994.
He became the country’s first democratically-elected president.
Mr Mandela fought for decades against the apartheid rule in South Africa, which segregated blacks and whites.
He spent 27 years in prison, mainly in Robben Island, 9km across the water from Cape Town.
There were also restrictions on what land blacks were allowed to own.
The segregation even went as far as banning black people from using certain taps, with some of those signs remaining in South Africa today as historical reminders.
Harry, on his first meeting with Mrs Machel in 2015, gave her a picture of the moment he planted a South African flag at the South Pole.
The Duke of Sussex was on a charity walk for wounded soldiers, soon after the iconic leader’s death in 2013 when the photograph was taken.
Mr Mandela met Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, just a few months before her tragic death in 1997.
Harry was shown a photograph of the pair together on a previous trip to South Africa.
When reading a condolence book for Mr Mandela, Harry said in 2015: “It’s amazing what people wrote, people who never knew him.
“Reading this, it feels like he met everybody — one of those people you want to hug and never let go.”
Harry and Meghan were also due to visit a township near Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon Australian time.
They will visit a youth employment hub to see the work being done to get young people into jobs, with plans to create 1 million new jobs.
The unemployment rate of people aged 15-24 in South Africa was 55 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
The overall unemployment rate was 29 per cent.
The royal couple’s tour will end with a meeting with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife Dr Tshepo Motsepe at their Presidential Residence in Pretoria. (Beginning at 11pm Australian time — 3pm South African time)
The couple, who have taken their baby Archie with them on the tour, were due to return to London on Thursday.
Originally published as Royal tour: Duchess of Sussex thrills fans ahead of romantic reunion with Prince Harry