--- title: Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech description: During their visit to Fiji, Meghan Markle delivered her first speech of her royal tour with Prince Harry, focusing on the power of education canonical: https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-24T14:44:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:37.906Z og:title: Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech og:description: While in Fiji, Markle shared the challenges to getting her university degree og:url: https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4b8a679348949af/69893d5422fb85eccce26f89/meghanmarklegivesroyaltourspeech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Fiji - Day 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech twitter:description: While in Fiji, Markle shared the challenges to getting her university degree twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4b8a679348949af/69893d5422fb85eccce26f89/meghanmarklegivesroyaltourspeech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 24, 2018 2:44 PM UTC  Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their official 16-day Autumn tour visiting cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Noble - Pool/Getty Images) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their official 16-day Autumn tour visiting cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Noble - Pool/Getty Images)Pool—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 24, 2018 2:44 PM UTC It’s already been a [whirlwind royal tour](http://time.com/5424488/prince-harry-meghan-markle-australia-sydney/) for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who are in the midst of a two-week adventure through Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji and just announced [Markle’s pregnancy](http://time.com/5424659/meghan-markle-prince-harry-zika/). On Wednesday, the focus was again on the Duchess of Sussex, who delivered her first official speech of the trip while [visiting Fiji](http://time.com/5432847/meghan-markle-fiji-security/). Her focus: the value of education, especially for women. Markle opened up about her own journey to higher education, including paying for her degree. “It was through scholarships, financial aid programs and work-study, where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition, that I was able to attend university,” she said in the speech. “And, without question, it was worth every effort.” (Markle attended [Northwestern University](http://time.com/5037786/meghan-markle-prince-harry-engagement/) in Chicago, IL.) “Everyone should be afforded the opportunity to receive the education they want, but more importantly they have a right to receive,” she continued. --- > “” --- She followed her statements with the announcement of two new grants through the Commonwealth for local universities in Fiji, supporting the empowerment of female staff. This is not the first time Markle has been a [champion for women’s rights](http://time.com/5285219/meghan-markle-royal-profile-feminism-website/), having previously been a U.N. Women’s Advocate, Global Ambassador for World Vision and [vocal advocate](http://time.com/5285219/meghan-markle-royal-profile-feminism-website/) for improved access to feminine hygiene products in developing nations. > [](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1054896450956484608) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/"},"headline":"Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech","datePublished":"2018-10-24T14:44:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:37.906Z","description":"The Duchess of Sussex focused on education","url":"https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Education","royals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4b8a679348949af/69893d5422fb85eccce26f89/meghanmarklegivesroyaltourspeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4b8a679348949af/69893d5422fb85eccce26f89/meghanmarklegivesroyaltourspeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Fiji - Day 2","caption":"The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Fiji - Day 2","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5433080/meghan-markle-tour-speech/","name":"Meghan Markle Has Given Her First Royal Tour Speech"}}]}] ```