She was destined for great things even as a youngster. In this recently uncovered video from 1993 Meghan Markle throws out some typical sass, standing up for sexism on TV.
Inside Edition has unearthed footage of Meghan as a determined 11-year-old appearing on the Nickelodeon children’s show Nick News.
Meghan shows her displeasure at the proliferation of sexism on TV.
It was sparked from an incident at school. Meghan and her social studies classmates were asked to watch a series of TV commercials and assess their messages. The spirited pre-teen took exception to an ad for Ivory Dish Soap that implied washing up was ‘women’s work.’
The offending commercial.
Two boys in the class piped up and said that’s where women belong – in the kitchen.
Meghan recalled the incident years later in her role as Women’s Ambassador for the United Nations.
In a speech at the 2015 UN Women’s Conference in New York she told delegates “I remember feeling shocked and angry and also just feeling so hurt. It just wasn’t right and something needed to be done.”
Meghan Markle speaks at the 2015 UN Women’s Conference.
So a young Meghan went home and told her father what had happened. He encouraged her to write letters. So she took his advice, but in typical Meghan style she went straight to the top, starting with First Lady Hillary Clinton.
She also wrote to civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred and Linda Ellerbee, who hosted the Nickelodean children’s show Nick News. All three women sent her letters of encouragement.
She then wrote to the soap manufacturer, Proctor & Gamble.
Nick News came to Meghan’s home to film the story. She spoke confidently and eloquently, telling the interviewer “I don’t think its right for kids to grow up thinking that…just mom does everything.”
For the full Inside Edition report, see below.
Meghan’s message was heard loud and clear and within a month, Proctor & Gamble changed the commercial, swapping out “women” for “people.”
“It was at that moment that I realised the magnitude of my actions” Meghan told the UN conference. “At the age of 11 I had created my small level of impact by standing up for equality.”
The kid’s show’s host Linda Ellerbee, told Inside Edition “She believed in women, she believed in her own power…and she wasn’t afraid to reach out and say, ‘I want my power and I want my rights.'”
Meghan on one of her humanitarian missions with World Vision in Rwanda.
In the final word, young Meghan had a clear message to children across America. “If you see something that you don’t like or are offended by on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people and you can really make a difference for not just for yourself but lots of other people.”
Way to go Meghan. We can’t wait to see what she achieves now that she has a royal platform.
