Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal family roles this year after months of discussions.
The Sussex couple lost their HRH titles and their Sussex Royal brand and relocated to Los Angeles, California, to prioritise their family of three and mental health over their former roles.
As former working royals, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex used to have their hands full with charity work, official tours and royal meetings. Now however, they will not act on behalf of the royal family.
Since their resignation, there has understandably been speculation around what this actually means and what the Sussex couple will do next, with rumours that the Duchess of Sussex could be venturing into politics.
Yes, after years of being unable to voice her political opinions during her time in the royal family, Meghan is now making her voice heard, speaking up this week about voter suppression.
Teaming up with When We All Vote, Meghan warned the American public at her latest speaking engagement, telling them: “We all know what’s at stake this year.”
She continued: “If you aren’t going out there and voting, then you’re complicit. If you’re complacent, you’re complicit. In the fraught moment that we find our nation, exercising your right to vote isn’t simply being part of a solution, it’s being part of a legacy.”
This announcement was extremely divisive, with some criticising Meghan for “actively campaigning against Donald Trump”. This was deemed inappropriate given that it goes against royal protocol to talk politics.
“The Queen must strip the Sussexes of their titles,” insisted Piers Morgan as part of a series of tweets. “They can’t remain as royals & spout off about foreign elections in such a brazenly partisan way.”
He continued: “She can do what she likes, she just can’t make politically partisan statements while remaining Duchess of Sussex. The royals are not allowed to do that. If Meghan & Harry truly want ‘freedom’ from royal duty & rules, they should stop trading off their royal titles.”
While some people took against Meghan’s speaking out, others came to her defence.
Among these was royal author Omid Scobie, who took to twitter to post his thoughts.
“Would love to occasionally see the tears and energy these morons spend on a non-working royal used on Prince Andrew’s horrendous mess,” he wrote. “Or is there nothing worse than a woman of colour with a voice?”
Historian and author Kate Williams also came to Meghan’s defence, adding: “If those attacking #Meghan this morning actually WATCHED the video, they’d see she’s simply telling people to vote and take the election seriously. Yes we can all guess who she supports, but does she say it? No. Any excuse to tear her apart.”
We will continue to update this story.
This article originally appeared on marie claire UK.
