Meghan Markle will speak at an online conference hosted by the New York Times about ‘women reaching professional and economic parity’
The Duchess Of Sussex, 40, is currently residing in California’s $14 million mansion. She has stepped back from her royal duties and has been announced as a speaker for the NYTDealbook Online Summit next week.
The mother-of-2 will be present in a half hour session called “Minding the Gap” alongside Mellody Hobson is Co-C.E.O. President, Ariel Investments. She is also the chairwoman at Starbucks Corporation.
The online session is called: “How can women achieve economic and professional parity?” We will be joined by two pioneering figures to discuss top-down solutions and reflect on their shared experiences in creating opportunities for others.
It comes days after Meghan Markle bought Starbucks coffee for employees working overtime to campaign for paid family and medical leave in the US after writing to politicians pleading for it to be made a ‘national right’.
She was accused of using her British royal title as a meddle in US politics at the top and of using the ‘ruthless streak and ‘tactics’ of an aspiring politician to lobby two Washington officials on Joe Biden’s proposed parental and sick-leave legislation.
Meghan Markle, 40 years old, will speak at an online conference organized by the New York Times. The topic is ‘women achieving economic and professional parity’
The Duchess, aged 40, is currently residing in California’s $14 million mansion. She has stepped back from her royal duties and has been invited to speak at the NYTDealbook Online Summit next Monday.
Other speakers at the conference include Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, as well as the CEO for Pfizer Albert Bourla.
The line-up also includes a host other stars speaking, including Matthew Mcconaughey (the actor) and Dax Shepherd (the actor), with whom Prince Harry did an explosive interview for his Armchair Expert podcast.
Days ago, the Duchess gifted workers at PL+US, a group running a national campaign to win paid family and medical leave by 2022, a $25 Starbucks voucher through her non-profit Archewell.
Earlier this month, Meghan penned an impassioned plea to senior congress members on proposed parental and sick leave legislation, writing not as a ‘politician’, but an ‘engaged citizen and a parent….and as a mom’.
Neil Sroka was the director of communications at the group. TwitterTo write: ‘The Duchess (aka #MeghanMarkle), bought everyone at @PaidLeaveUS some coffee while we’re working overtime on #SavePaidLeave.
“Unbelievably classy…and necessary. Truly honored to know that she has our backs in this fight to win’.
The mother-of-2 will be appearing in a half hour session called “Minding the Gap” with Mellody Hobson (Co-C.E.O. Ariel Investments President and Starbucks Corporation Chairwoman
The Duchess was a gifted worker at PL+US. This group is running a campaign to win paid family leave by 2022.
Online, the gesture received mixed reactions. Some said it made a huge difference and others called it pathetic. Others suggested that the act might be a publicity stunt.
The 1,030-word letter asked the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and the Majority Leader in the US Senate Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, to consider her plea ‘on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry’.
Mellody Hobson, Meghan Markle’s cochair
Hobson is the CEO of Ariel Investments and the chairman of Dream Works Animation SKG Inc.
Hobson is the head of Ariel Investments, an investment management firm. He is also the chairman of Dream Works Animation SKG Inc’s board.
Since 2006, when they met at a business conference, she has been in a committed relationship with George Lucas.
The couple exchanged vows in 2014 at the Skywalker Ranch in Marin County in California. This was in front of 200 guests, including Meghan’s friend Oprah, Glenn Close and Harrison Ford.
It’s not Mellody’s first encounter with Duke and Duchess Sussex.
In 2017 she interviewed Prince Harry for the Obama Foundation Summit.
It was written on Sussex’s new post-royal letterhead. This prominently used their titles, but not their official cyphers.
This letter refers to historic legislation that is currently being considered by Congress. It would allow most workers to take 12 weeks of paid sick and family leave as part of a new federal policy.
The US is one of few nations that doesn’t guarantee paid sick or maternity leave or paternity pay.
She wrote: ‘I’m not an elected official, and I’m not a politician. Like many, I am a parent and an engaged citizen.
‘And because you and your congressional colleagues have a role in shaping family outcomes for generations to come, that’s why I’m writing to you at this deeply important time – as a mom – to advocate for paid leave.’
Meghan says the Covid pandemic has exposed ‘long-existing fault lines in our communities’ and says ‘millions of women’ have been forced to drop out of the workforce to look after their children as a result of schools and childcare providers being closed.
The Suits actress turned actress Meghan, The Duchess Of Sussex signed the letter. She wrote: ‘If you’re going to create an era of family first policies, let’s ensure that that includes strong paid leave programs for all Americans that’s guaranteed, available, and encouraged without stigmatization or penalty.
‘I know how politically charged things can – and have – become. But it’s not about right or left. It’s about right and wrong.
“This is about putting family above politics. It’s refreshing to see that everyone seems to agree on this. Let this be a common goal that unites us in a time when everything seems so divided.
“So, on behalf Archie, Lili, Harry, and my family, I thank you very much for reading this letter. I also ask that all families ensure that this important moment does not go unnoticed.”
The duchess concedes that she and Harry are lucky enough not have had to make ‘impossible’ choices about their work and their family.
‘No family should be faced with these decisions.
‘No family should have to choose between earning a living and having the freedom to take care of their child (or a loved one, or themselves, as we would see with a comprehensive paid leave plan),’ she says.
Neil Sroka, director of communications for the group wrote on Twitter: ‘The Duchess Of Sussex (aka #MeghanMarkle), bought everyone at @PaidLeaveUS some coffee while we’re working overtime towards #SavePaidLeave.
Meghan Markle stated that she was writing the letter addressed to Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker of Representatives, and Charles Schumer, Senate Major Leader, ‘as mom’ and on behalf of millions of American Families’
‘I understand that with everything going on these days, people might find it easy to be apathetic about what’s happening in Washington DC… but with stakes this high none of us can afford to let apathy win.
‘So, on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry, I thank you for considering this letter, and on behalf of all families, I ask you to ensure this consequential moment is not lost.’
A spokesman for Meghan said she ‘cares deeply about advocating for families in the US and around the world’ and had partnered with three campaign organisations on the issue.
Experts on royals have also wondered if Americans would be impressed by her account of how she survived on $4.99 Sizzler salads as a child. Her estranged father Thomas sent her to private school in kindergarten. She now lives in a $14 million LA mansion and is a billionaire.
The Duchess was, she claims, an ‘engaged citizen, a father, and a mom’. But, her letter is being viewed by many as her most explicit political intervention in US Life. There are rumors that she hopes to become a Democrat politician, or even run for the presidency.
Angela Levin, journalist, and biographer of Prince Harry, stated to MailOnline that although the duchess is an American citizen the letter from the office of Duke and Duchess Sussex’ signed ’on behalf of my family Archie and Lili and Harry’. This amounts to using her British title, marriage to the sixth inline to the throne, to interfere in US politics.
She stated: “Meghan’s two-page letter to Congress about money on parental leave, is clearly another step towards trying to make herself a politician. She is using notepaper that says “From the Office Of The Duke and Duchess Sussex”. This shows that she doesn’t know that she is speaking to politicians in a republic that gained independence from the crown in 1776.
The truth is that the parental leave bill is in process of being confirmed. Meghan could have taken over her belief that it was largely due Meghan. She also stated that the letter was also ‘on behalf Archie and Lili’. This is a bit of a snub. Poor Harry, you are the last.
Last week Meghan, who gave her birth to Lilibet Diana Mountbatten–Windsor on June 4, 2013, appeared on Brightly Storytime’s YouTube account to read The Bench to her children.
The Duchess of Sussex explained how she wrote the book as a poem for her husband Harry and their son Archie
Meghan, who is sitting on a chair at her $14.65million Montecito home, said the following:: ‘Today, I’m going be reading to you my book called “The Bench” with Christian Robinson, the illustrator.
“I asked him for something special and used watercolours. It’s not the usual medium he uses, but he made it special.
“I wrote this poem as a gift for my husband and Archie, and then made it into a book so that you could also enjoy it.”
Meghan claims that her children’s book The Bench reveals ‘another face of masculinity’. This was in a message to thank readers following its New York Times bestseller.
In a statement announcing her book in May 2021, the duchess said she wanted the story, which was published on June 8 by Random House, to be told through an ‘inclusive lens’ and feature a ‘diverse group of father and sons’.