Meghan Discusses Empowering Women: "There is No Better Time to Shine a Light on Women"

Meghan joined Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in the Auditorium at the offices of Aviva, London.

It marks the first time the foursome carried out an official engagement together.

The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry was legally established by the Princes in September 2009 and became fully operational in 2011. The Duchess of Cambridge officially became a patron in 2011; it is their main vehicle to pursue their charitable and philanthropic interests. At present, the core priorities are mental health, young people the armed forces and conservation.

It's incredibly exciting to see Meghan present today. In May, she will become the fourth patron of the Foundation and will add her own interests and charities. Meghan's previous philanthropic work included women's advocacy, gender-equality, clean water initiatives children, poverty and health.

In a statement the Foundation praised Meghan's "drive and commitment":

"We are delighted to welcome Meghan to the Foundation. She has always shown great drive and compassion for making a difference in the world, and we are excited to embark on important projects together. Together we use the passion and unique influence of our Patrons to change mindsets and make a lasting difference on the issues that matter to them and to society. We never begin a project thinking we have the answer. From day one, the Foundation was built with an open door, and whatever we do, we invite the best and brightest to sit with us around the table to help find solutions. We don’t just help raise awareness about issues, but aim to truly change attitudes and make a lasting difference to communities in the U.K. and abroad."

Meghan has already had the opportunity to see two of its projects in action. For her first engagement in Nottingham, Meghan learned about the Full Effect programme Prince Harry established in 2013. The programme supports children and young people in an effort to prevent their involvement in youth violence and crime through a combination of early intervention, mentorship, and training. Earlier this month, she joined Harry for the Endeavour Fund Awards, which offers seed funding for sporting and adventure challenges, and helps emerging initiatives with advice, hands-on support and mentoring. Meghan privately joined Harry on the judging panel of the Endeavour Fund to consider submissions.

Speaking ahead of the event chief executive Lorraine Heggessey told Sky News it's significant that the four of them have chosen to promote their joint charity work together.

She said: "What's important to all three of their royal highnesses at the moment and Ms Meghan Markle is that this generation of the royal family is seen to work together collectively to make a difference and make a significant impact on the issues that matter both to them as individuals and matter to them collectively and to society.

"I think for Ms Markle she just naturally had synergy and you know understood that idea, it resonated with her and we're now researching, very early stages areas of interest and themes that might develop for her in the future".

The theme of the day, 'Making a Difference Together', focuses on showcasing successful programmes run by the Foundation including the successful mental health campaign Heads Together and Prince Harry's inspiring Invictus Games.

William, Kate, Harry and Meghan appeared on stage to discuss the Foundation in the presence of an audience made up of invited guests, supporters of the Royal Foundation, and programme partners and beneficiaries. You can watch a full video including an hour of the forum below.

Prince William opened by welcoming Meghan: "Catherine, Harry and I are delighted to be here this morning and we're particularly happy it is our first Royal Foundation event with Meghan." Kate smiled and turned to Meghan before giving her a round of applause.

Host Tina Daheley asked Meghan about her impression of the Royal Foundation so far. "Obviously it's incredibly exciting and yes I think for me it's been a very long time working on cause driven works specifically with women and girls rights. To see the model of the foundation is really interesting. While I've worked with larger NGOs, I've also worked with small grass roots organisations where you can see a higher level of impact in my opinion because there's a lot less red tape. What you see here and what I noticed with Heads Together from a global perspective was the power of convening all of these smaller organisations who have the same issues but need this extra push and support under this umbrella. You're able to achieve that and the impact they all made with Heads Together was tremendous. I'm very excited to work on initiatives similarly that can have that same sort of impact globally".

Speaking about her work supporting women Meghan said:

'For me it's very important, once you hit the ground running, even if you're doing it quietly behind the scenes, which is what I've focused my energy on thus far is meeting with the right people, meeting with the right organisations behind-the-scenes quietly, learning as much as I can so we I can maximise the opportunity we have and really make an impact. I think what's really interesting when I hear people speak about girls empowerment is finding and knowing their worth.

You'll often hear people say 'Well you're helping women find their voices' and I fundamentally disagree with that because women don't need to find a voice. They have a voice. They need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen. I think right now in the climate we're seeing with so many campaigns; MeToo and Times Up, there is no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and women really helping to support them in that. Men included. It makes such a tremendous difference.

Meghan added: "I guess we wait a couple of months and then we can hit the ground running but up until then I'm pretty excited". Meghan said she couldn't reveal more on the work she's been doing yet. "Sadly I can't. Harry and I see the world so similarly in our approach, being very hands on with things. What I can say is I've been so fortunate to meet with incredible women and organisations in the UK, but also knowing some of the work I've done in the past has been in Commonwealth countries like India and Rwanda, so this reach can have some really nice legs to it once we get started."

A couple of lighter moments from the Mail Online:

'The young Royals showed their softer side at the foundation forum today when joking about the challenges of working together as a family. After being asked by presenter Tina Daheley if the 'ever have disagreements' William immediately burst into laughter before responding with a drawn out 'Ohhhh yes'. Harry was quick to clarify they were 'healthy disagreements' and joked they 'come so thick and fast' when asked what the last thing they quarrelled on was.

William continued the banter, quipping: 'Is it resolved? We don't know!' But Harry steered the topic back towards the serious message, adding: 'I think it's really good we have got four different personalities and we all have that same passion to make a difference. 'We have different opinions and they work really well [together]. Working as family does have its challenges; of course it does. [I think] the fact that everybody is laughing shows they know 'exactly' what's it like. But we are stuck together for the rest of our lives. Meghan added: 'Togetherness at it's finest'

Presenter Tina Daheley said the impact had been huge and 'changed the national conversation around mental health' before asking them if they expected such a result.

William quickly said 'No, as an answer' before Harry quipped: 'It was organised on the back of a fag packet. It really was. But William quickly brought the subject back to a serious nature, adding the Duchess of Cambridge was key to its development. He said: 'Catherine was the one who joined the dots up and came up with the idea and the concept. Harry and I had never thought about doing a campaign before and when it comes to mental health it was very difficult to know where to start. 'It's such a big issue and it is so entrenched in society in a negative way, sadly.

The royals watched several videos on initiatives.

Harry said he is proud Meghan is joining the effort.

Meghan met guests.

Journalist Bryony Gordan shared a hug with Meghan. During Heads Together, Harry spoke candidly to Bryony about the effect losing his mother had on his life.

Meghan looked effortlessly stylish in the Belted Satin Wrap Dress by Jason Wu. The sleek belt secures the wrapped waist of the trench-inspired dress sewn from an elegantly draped crepe-back satin.