Meghan Markle used ‘no notes’ during Black Lives Matter speech but has had ‘lots of conversations’ about issue in LA
MEGHAN Markle used “no notes” during her “raw” Black Lives Matter speech after having “lots of conversations” about the issue, an insider has claimed. Last week, the Duchess of Sussex released a heartfelt message to the graduating class of her former high school, Immaculate Heart in LA, about how George’ Floyds “life mattered.” Speaking from her LA […]
MEGHAN Markle used “no notes” during her “raw” Black Lives Matter speech after having “lots of conversations” about the issue, an insider has claimed.
Last week, the Duchess of Sussex released a heartfelt message to the graduating class of her former high school, Immaculate Heart in LA, about how George’ Floyds “life mattered.”
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Speaking from her LA home, the former Suits actress said: “I wasn’t sure what I could say to you.
“I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.”
Discussing Meghan’s emotional message with Newsweek, an insider said: “As you can probably tell, it’s pretty raw and she spoke without notes.
“But she’s been having lots of conversations about the issue before filming.”
According to Harper’s Bazaar’s royal editor Omid Scobie – who has co-written their upcoming biography Finding Freedom – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have conducted video calls with community leaders about the Black Lives Matter movement.
He wrote: “Both Meghan and Harry have been quietly having meetings behind the scenes with people on all levels to make sure that they are educated and connected to the issues of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“This is something that is incredibly personal to Meghan, especially given everything she has experienced. And as a couple, it is, of course, very important. They are both feeling it, just like the rest of us.
“Harry and Meghan have been having private conversations with community leaders and people at every level, to ensure that they understand current events.”
George Floyd died on May 25 after being arrested for trying to use a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes.
The unarmed black man died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week after a cop was filmed kneeling on his neck during his arrest.
The tragedy sparked widespread outrage and protests which have spread across the US and around the world.
In her poignant video this week about the protests, Meghan said: “George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered… and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know.”
The former Suits star also remembered living through the 1992 LA riots after the police beating of black man Rodney King.
She said: “I was 11 or 12 years old and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by senseless act of racism.
“I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings.
“I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles.
“I remember pulling up at the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don’t go away.”
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