Meghan tells men: ‘VALUE THE WOMEN IN YOUR LIVES’
STUNNING Meghan dazzled in a scarlet dress after making a school boy’s day – with an unexpected hug and kiss.
The Duchess sported the lady in red look as she and husband Harry, 35, attended London’s Royal Albert Hall for last night’s Mountbatten Festival of Music.
Her striking £1,295 Kalika Long Dress by British label Safiyaa was matched with Aquazurra shoes and a Manolo clutch for the charity gala.
The event brought together world-class musicians, composers and conductors of the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.
Harry attended in his role as Captain General Royal Marines – a position he will relinquish when the Sussexes step down as senior royals at the end of the month.
It came after the daring Duchess made a schoolboy’s day in her final solo engagement as a working royal on Friday.
She went “off the cuff” during a secret school visit... and promptly received a hug and a cheeky kiss from the head boy.
Meghan had made the surprise appearance at the Robert Clack School, in east London, ahead of International Women’s Day, to urge teenage boys to value and protect the women in their lives.
But her message was almost upstaged by enthusiastic pupil Aker Okoye, 16, after she invited a male volunteer from the audience to come up on stage to explain why International Women’s Day, being marked today, is important.
As the hall buzzed with excitement, Aker stood up and boldly kissed her on the cheek as he took to the podium.
Meghan, 38, was left laughing and wagging her finger to admonish him as he waited for the applause to die down.
Then, leaning into the microphone, he told his friends: “She really is beautiful, innit.”
He went on to deliver an impresssive speech in which he told the audience: “For me, International Women’s Day is a reminder that it’s not only me that is part of my life.
“It reminds me that there are lots of strong women in my life who uplift me as a man.”
To wild applause, he gave Meghan a hug and left the stage as she said: “Well done.
“Very well said – and incredible confidence.”
The school was chosen because it is in Dagenham, which was the scene of two landmark strikes at the Ford car plant in a gender
‘You young men, value women in your lives’
battle for equal pay. Meghan told pupils: “When we thought about what I wanted to do for International Women’s Day this year, for me, it was incredibly important to be with the women of our future.
“And that is all of you young women here, as well as you young men who play a very large part in this.”
She added: “So I just encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand for what is right. To continue to respect each other.
“You young men, to continue to really value and appreciate the women in your lives. And also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way.
“You have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends in your life. Protect them. Make sure they are feeling valued and safe.”
At the school, the Duchess also met Geraldine Dear, one of the women who took part in the 1984 strike for equal pay at the Ford plant.
Meghan told her: “Well done on making such an important change for this country.
“I’m sure it’s not an easy thing to do but it’s the right thing to do.”
As the two women chatted Meghan revealed that her 10-month-old son Archie, who has stayed in Canada with a nanny
while they returned to Britain, has “started trying to walk”. In the assembly she also posed for pictures with pupils making the “equality” sign and paid tribute to the women at Ford, whose struggle was immortalised in the 2010 film Made In Dagenham.
She said: “Being in Dagenham is incredibly profound.
“It’s the best example of no matter how small you might feel, or how low you may feel on the ladder or the totem pole; no matter what colour you are, no matter what gender you are, you have a voice and you certainly have the right to speak up for what is right.”
The Duchess’s surprise arrival stunned locals.
She wore a £295 cream belted fringe boucle jacket by British brand Me+em and £550 Jennifer Chamandi shoes.
Met by a greeting party who joked they were not sure whether to offer her a “handshake or an elbow bump” under coronavirus advice, she said, “It’s OK!”, and offered her hand.
Tomorrow, Meghan and Harry will join the Queen and other royals at the Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey, which will be their last official appearance as senior working royals.
THE children at Robert Clack School in Dagenham gave the Duchess of Sussex a tremendous welcome when she visited them for Internationalwomen’s Day.
Her message to those teenagers – especially to the boys – that they need to value and protect the women in their lives – was an important one, with possibly more than a hint of the way that she and Prince Harry have stood steadfastly united in their own travails.
We can only hope that as they set off together as world citizens in their new, non-royal personas as plain Meghan and Harry, they can remain as inspirational to the young people in this country.