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As she headed to the finish line of her 16-day Down Under tour last week, Meghan Markle delivered a passionate speech on women's suffrage.
Now, as America goes to the polls for Tuesday's crucial mid-term elections, has the Duchess of Sussex exercised her right to vote in the United States?
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Meghan, 37, who is currently following the British citizenship application process that has been going on for years, can still vote in her home country. And her speech last week echoed what she had written on her former lifestyle blog, The Tig, in November 2016, when the former Suit The star talked about the importance of voting in a message called "Because you have to".
"The right to vote is something for which blood, sweat and tears have been shed. the struggle was endless for us to have that freedom, "wrote Meghan, who was filming her legal drama in Toronto.
"Last week, I checked the boxes on my absentee ballot, closing my eyes and thinking about my great-grandparents who did not have this right (and thinking of how it would have changed the lives of my grandparents if they had had it, "she continued. . "So, that day, we urge you to do the exercise properly. Please, vote. The fact that we can make us lucky. "
Meghan has called Donald Trump "misogynist" and "divider" during an appearance on The night show with Larry Wilmore in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. She also posted on Instagram to support Hillary Clinton.
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But she is in a difficult position this time around. Queen Elizabeth, her mother-in-law, does not vote in elections; she must therefore be perceived as an impartial head of state – and thus remain "strictly neutral in political matters", she is "unable to vote or stand for election," says the website of the royal family.
The oldest members of the royal family in congress do not generally have the right to vote. But the Duchess's office at Kensington Palace will not say whether she voted in the mid-term elections in the United States. "No comment," is all that they would say.
However, Meghan's view of the importance of the vote was clear in her speech last week on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand.
MARTY MELVILLE / AFP / Getty Images
"The achievements of New Zealand women who campaigned for their right to vote and were the first in the world to get it are universally admired," she said. "While waiting for this very special occasion, I reflected on the importance of this achievement, but also on the broader impact of what it symbolizes."
"Because yes, women's suffrage is about feminism, but feminism is about equity," said Meghan. "Suffrage does not only concern the right to vote, but also what it represents: the basic and fundamental human right to be able to participate in the choices for your future and that of your community, the commitment and the voice which allows you to be a part of the world of which you are a part. "
Meghan, who is expecting her first child in the spring, will be appearing alongside Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton this weekend at the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
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