The Duchess of Sussex today spoke of the importance of access to first-class education for women, saying: “When a woman is empowered it changes absolutely everything.”
Meghan, 38, a university graduate herself, was given an enthusiastic welcome by students as she arrived at Johannesburg university for a conference.
She was hailed an “inspiration” to the university’s students by its vice chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala.
The duchess, a strong advocate of accessible education for all, said women’s education was key to gender quality.
She talked about the importance of giving support to women to enable them to attend higher education — and highlighted the support she had received as a student.
Meghan, who was wearing a £95 dress from Banana Republic, carried out the engagement in South Africa while the Duke of Sussex was in Malawi on the penultimate day of their 10-day African tour.
The duchess told academics and students: “When a woman is empowered, it changes absolutely everything in the community and starting an educational atmosphere is a key point of that. If you don’t have the support that is necessary that you feel that you can keep taking the next step then you’re stunted in growth.”
She added: “I went to university. It takes a village, doesn’t it, to sort of piece it together for people to be able to finance that.
“Families chipping in, scholarship, financially all those things were the reason that I was able to attend university.”
She announced three new grants for the University of Johannesburg, Stellenbosch University and the University of Western Cape.
“The goal here is to be able to have gender equality, to be able to support women as they are working in research and higher education roles,” she said.
One of the excited students, 19-year-old Samukelisiwa Nomusa Shongwe, praised the duchess. She 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."
