ROYALSMeghan Markle Wore Princess Diana's Watch While Attending Female Empowerment Event in California
Meghan Markle discussed being 'one of the most bullied people in the world.'
Meghan Markle celebrated International Day of the Girl on Friday, October 11, with Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, and the Duchess of Sussex was spotted wearing Princess Diana's Cartier Tank Française gold watch at the gathering.
Aside from wearing Diana's accessory, Meghan's appearance was aligned with her decades of women's rights advocacy work and Archewell's anti-cyberbullying initiatives.
"In celebration of International Day of the Girl, The Archewell Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, and the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation announced their contributions to support a partnership between Girls Inc. and #HalfTheStory, aimed at providing digital wellness programming for young girls in underserved communities across America," Archewell shared in an announcement.
"This new educational initiative will equip girls with the essential tools to thrive in the digital age while fostering healthier, more balanced relationships with technology," the blurb continued.
Meghan Markle was accused of bullying royal staffers.
#HalfTheStory founder Larissa May discussed how the former actress was candid about the criticism she gets online.
"We did an activity where we talked through a bunch of scenarios, and Meghan talked about being one of the most bullied people in the world," May told an outlet.
"We had girls wave these little emoji signs and talk about how each one of these scenarios would have impacted them emotionally," May added.
Meghan Markle has been a feminist for years.
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Despite Meghan and Prince Harry's hopes of leading lives of service, the Duchess of Sussex was accused of mistreating her staff while living in the U.K. — and the allegations continue to follow the former actress. OK! previously reported Meghan's former bodyguard defended her against the ongoing allegations.
"She gets a bad rap for being a not very good person to work with, that she was this evil person in the royal family," Steve Davies shared, adding the duchess has a "big heart" despite how she's been portrayed.
A royal staffer claimed Meghan Markle was a 'dictator in high heels.'
A former staffer called Meghan "a dictator in high heels," but a palace courtier asserted that the Sussexes weren't the first members of the royal family to be seen as demanding.
“There have been plenty of difficult royals over the years, and I do think that after the ill-feeling of Megxit (when Harry and Meghan left the royal family), Meghan’s bad moments were amplified and distorted and blown out of proportion," a courtier told an outlet.
"Princess Margaret regularly got people to hold out their hands to use as ashtrays, for example, and that’s just laughed off as hilarious eccentricity. Look at Prince Andrew, he was unbelievable to the staff," they continued.
In 2021, Meghan revealed she struggled with suicidal ideation while living in England, and the former employee wondered if her mental health challenges impacted her approach to leadership.
“That said, there definitely were bad, very bad, even psycho moments," they claimed. "I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s---."
“But it was an incredibly fraught time, and I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt," the insider noted. "She has said herself she was suicidal at times.”
May spoke to Vanity Fair.
