Meghan Markle is one of the five “visionary female leaders” set to take the stage at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas on Friday, which also marks International Women’s Day.
The Duchess of Sussex was praised for being a “feminist and champion of human rights and gender equity” ahead of her appearance on the panel in Austin.
Markle, 42, will be joined by Brooke Shields, Katie Couric and Nancy Wang Yuen to discuss “breaking barriers” and “challenging stereotypes” on social media — specifically concerning teenage girls.
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The panel discussion, titled “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen,” will be moderated by journalist Errin Haines.
”Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, Nancy Wang Yuen and [moderator] Errin Haines are the perfect finishing touch to eight days of remarkable keynote speakers,” SXSW co-president and chief programming officer Hugh Forrest said in a statement Monday.
“We are so honored to host this distinguished group on International Women’s Day for a significant discussion on the importance of representation in media and entertainment.”
Markle was part of a similar discussion in October 2023 while doing a panel for the first Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit, titled “Mental Wellness in a Digital Age.”
During the summit, Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, got candid about the challenges of raising children in the digital age — revealing they had been quietly working with tech companies and parents who have lost children due to online bullying.
“I think for us, for myself and my wife, with kids growing up in a digital age, the priority here is to again turn pain into purpose and provide as much support as well as a spotlight and a platform for these parents to come together, to heal, to grieve and to also collectively focus on solutions so that no other family anywhere has to go through what they’ve been through,” said Harry, who shares Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2, with Markle.
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The couple has dipped their toes into several different business ventures since quitting the royal family in 2020.
Markle recently inked a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media after her original $20-million-dollar contract with Spotify wasn’t renewed amid her “Hollywood reinvention.”
Insiders also told Pvnew last month that Makle hopes to “take on” America’s most famous lifestyle queens — like Ina Garten, Martha Stewart or Joanna Gaines — during the final year of her $100 million Netflix deal.
We were told the mother of two wants to center herself in the lifestyle space before the contract runs out at the end of 2025.
The couple is already producing several other projects with the streamer — including a film adaptation of Carley Fortune’s hit book, “Meet Me By the Lake.”
The Duke of Sussex also pitched a solo documentary about traveling to Africa, sources told us in June 2023.
