During the speech, she addressed the issue of racism towards the African-American community and murder of George Floyd which is believed to be an unusual topic to be addressed by a royal.
According to Newsweek, Prince Harry’s wife and former working royal, Meghan Markle was able to be vocal about her opinion about racism against George Floyd and actively participate in Black Lives Matter movement because she is no more a full-time royal after stepping back from her royal duties officially this March.
The speech was powerful as she expressed her frustration about the issue backed with her own personal experiences from the 90s riots in Los Angeles. Speaking with the outlet, a royal aide Dickie Arbiter, who worked as Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary, said the speech would have not happened if Meghan was still a part of the British royal family.
“It would have been pretty impossible,” Arbiter said. “What’s happened in the states is an absolute tragedy and it should never have happened but unfortunately it did happen. Had Meghan and Harry still been in the U.K. and working members of the royal family that speech couldn’t have happened.”
In her recorded speech during her digital appearance, she admitted that her graduation speech wouldn’t be complete if she didn’t talk about George Floyd’s death and social injustice against African-American people. Meghan recalled the events of the 1992 Los Angeles riots that were caused due to an 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 and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting,” Meghan recalled the unfortunate events (via Essence magazine).
Meanwhile, Arbiter said the “highly politicised” speech surrounding the events occurring in another country wouldn’t make it to speech content of the British royal family usually.
“I’m talking about the whole speech, end of. It’s highly politicized because of the very nature of what it is,” Arbiter explained. “And it’s starting to voice opinions about the internal affairs of another country.
I don’t think the queen has to say anything. It is a social issue for the United States and it is not for a head of state to voice an opinion, whether the queen or the president of France or whoever.”
Meghan and Harry announced their exit from the royal family on January 21. However, they officially stepped down from their royal duties on March 30. After spending some time in Canada, the couple is now residing in Los Angeles, and it is believed to be their permanent abode.