How her fearless friend was jailed

THE Duchess of Sussex has paid close attention to human rights outrages in Saudi Arabia in the past, befriending a fearless campaigner who fought for Saudi women to be allowed to drive.

Meghan met activist Loujain AlHathloul, 31, at the One Young World humanitarian summit in Canada in October 2016.

Vanity Fair published a picture of the pair standing in front of a dramatic lake in Ottawa, alongside former Irish president Mary Robinson and Pakistani poet Fatima Bhutto.

Within months of the picture being taken by acclaimed American photographer Jason Schmitt, Meghan was revealed to be dating Prince Harry.

But life for Ms Al-Hathloul took a very different turn.

She and other activists were detai ned i n 2018 on charges i ncluding contact with groups hostile to Saudi Arabia and last December she was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Last month she was granted probation by a judge in Riyadh and allowed home to her family, subject to a travel ban, and a suspended sentence if she breaks the terms of her release.

The 2016 One Young World summit gathered 1,300 young campaigners from 196 countries.

Writing at the time on her lifestyle blog The Tig, Meghan said: ‘One Young World invites young adults from all over the world who are actively working to transform the socio-political landscape by being the greater good.’