A shared passion to help

MEGHAN Markle has spoken of how she helped out in a soup kitchen when she was just 13, helping the homeless just like fiance Prince Harry did when he was a lad.

The Suits actress lent a hand on the infamous Skid Row in her hometown of Los Angeles.

The work mirrors Harry’s efforts as in 1994 he and brother William visited London’s St Vincent Centre, run by homeless charity The Passage, with mother Princess Diana, who was a homelessness campaigner.

Meghan’s kindness emerged in excerpts from the book The Game Changers: Success Secrets from Inspirational Women Changing The Game and Influencing The World.

Meghan, who weds Harry at Windsor Castle on May 19 next year, said: “I started working at a soup kitchen in Skid Row of Los Angeles when I was 13 and the first day I felt really scared. I was young, and it was rough and raw down there, and though I was with a great volunteer group, I just felt overwhelmed.”

But although she was frightened, the advice she got while working there changed her life for ever.

Meghan, 36, said: “I remember one of my mentors (Mrs Maria Pollia) told me that ‘Life is about putting others’ needs above your own fears’. That has always stayed with me.”

In January, Harry pounded the pavements in London with the Running Charity, which helps young people develop life skills through sport. Diana also regularly took the young princes on visits to homeless housing support charity Centrepoint, of which she was patron.

It was around this time that Meghan started following in Diana’s footsteps, volunteering in Skid Row, where 20,000 people live in poverty.

Meghan advised other volunteers: “Make sure you are safe and never put yourself in a compromising situation, but once that is checked off the list, I think it’s important for us to remember someone needs us, and your act of giving/helping/doing can truly become an act of grace.”

Humanitarian

She later became women’s ambassador to the UN and founded lifestyle website The Tig.

She has also volunteered with World Vision on trips to Rwanda and India and was dubbed a “true humanitarian”.

In the book Meghan adds: “I am self-sufficient and a go-getter, so often times I have to remind myself to take a moment to just breathe.

“My brain is always going, but at the end of the day, it is all stuff that I am passionate about... it’s easier to not feel exhausted as I squeeze it all in.”

Meghan featured alongside the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and supermodel Elle Macpherson in the book, which came out in the US in January.

But following the announcement of her engagement to Harry, she is focusing on her royal duties.