Royals

Glamorous Meghan opens up on pregnancy in candid chat with Julia Gillard

Mar 09, 2019

Meghan joined in a panel discussion with Julia Gillard. Source: Instagram/The Royal Family.

With just weeks to go until she’s due to give birth, Meghan has opened up on her pregnancy and her hopes for her child in an in-depth chat with Julia Gillard and more stars for International Women’s Day.

The Duchess of Sussex, 37, joined a star-studded panel hosted by the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to discuss everything from “our bump”, to feminism, gender equality and why she blocks out newspapers and Twitter comments, after being appointed vice president of the trust.

Looking as stylish as ever, Meghan pulled out all the stops for the event in an above-the-knee black and white patterned Reiss dress, reportedly selling at £185 (AU$342) and sky-high black stilettos.

Meghan looked incredible in black and white for the event. Source: Getty.

She added a smart black Alexander McQueen blazer over the top of the outfit and wore her hair in a loose up do with curled loose strands framing her face.

Holding nothing back in the candid discussion, Meghan referred to her growing baby bump as “our bump” and discussed her hopes for her child.

“I’d seen this documentary on Netflix on feminism and one of the things they said during pregnancy was, ‘I feel the embryonic kicking of feminism’,” she recalled. “I love that. So boy or girl or whatever it is, we hope that that’s the case, our little bump.”

She was referring to American actress Lily Tomlin, who was featured in the Netflix series Feminists – What Were They Thinking?

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And while she’s been keeping busy amid her pregnancy in recent weeks, having jetted to the States for a lavish baby shower before joining husband Prince Harry in Morocco, Meghan said she plans to rest following her latest appearance.

“I feel that’s a deserved treat, especially at this stage of pregnancy,” she added.

Elsewhere, the duchess has been in the headlines in recent weeks amid claims both her and Catherine have fallen victim to a stream of cruel online comments from trolls.

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But according to the Mail Online, Meghan revealed to her co-panellists that she avoids newspapers and Twitter to stop herself getting “muddled” by the “noise”.

Asked by chairwoman and senior editor of The Economist, Anne McElvoy, what she thinks of headlines describing her feminism as “trendy”, she reportedly said: “I don’t read anything, it’s much safer that way, but equally that’s just my own personal preference, because I think positive or negative, it can all sort of just feel like noise to a certain extent these days, as opposed to getting muddled with that to focus on the real cause.

“So for me, I think the idea of making the word feminism trendy, that doesn’t make any sense to me personally, right? This is something that is going to be part of the conversation forever.”

Meghan joined a star-studded panel. Source: Getty.

The panel also included activists Chrisann Jarrett, founder of Let us Learn, model Adwoa Aboah and Angeline Murimirwa, executive director of the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) in Africa, as well as former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and singer Annie Lennox.

Looking back on her own life fighting for women’s rights, Meghan said it first began at the age of 11.

“If there was a wrong, if there is a lack of justice, and there is an inequality, then someone needs to do something. And why not me?” she said.

Meanwhile, speaking about the future of gender equality, Meghan added that both men and women need to be involved.

“I’ve said for a long time you can be feminine and a feminist, you can be masculine,” she explained.

“And I think in terms of masculinity you understand that your strength includes knowing your vulnerabilities and your sense of self and security, and your confidence comes from knowing a woman by your side, not behind you, is actually something you should not be threatened about – as opposed you should feel really empowered in having that.”

Gillard agreed and added: “If we can talk about how gender equality gives everybody more choices and more options, then it can be more inclusive, globally.”