Meghan Markle’s ‘Very Serious’ London Dinner Was Nothing Like A Typical Girls’ Night Out
Meghan Markle met Malala Yousafzai at Claridge’s in Mayfair, London, on October 7. A video showed the pair sitting together in a booth. Some reports called it dinner, while others described it as afternoon tea. Markle wore a white top and tied her hair in her usual low bun.
She looked focused as the two women leaned toward each other and talked. Body language expert Judi James analyzed the video for the Daily Express. “Meghan is seated facing the room here in this booth, although this choice of seating facing outward could have been a courtesy to Malala, who has a very high public profile herself,” she said.
James added, “The body language looks low-key as the two women lean in together rather than sitting back and relaxing, and Meghan appears to have both arms on the table, lightly folded. This suggests a point where they were less about eating any food and more about what looks like quite an important and intense conversation.”
She continued, “It looks deep and calm, as though the two women, who share the trait of very serious campaigning, are perhaps discussing world issues rather than just enjoying the proverbial ‘girls’ night out’, which might normally see more relaxed and playful-looking body language poses.”
Markle and Yousafzai first appeared together publicly in a virtual chat on October 11, 2020. Prince Harry joined them, too. The conversation was held to mark International Day of the Girl. The women spoke about the barriers that stop millions of girls from getting an education.
Markle has long supported these causes. Back in 2016, Markle became an ambassador for World Vision Canada. She traveled to Rwanda that year and visited projects working to improve access to clean water. Markle traveled to India with World Vision in 2017, too. She also wrote about the subject herself.
In March 2017, Markle published an essay for Time titled How Periods Affect Potential. It also discussed the Myna Mahila Foundation. During a visit to Fiji in October 2018, Markle talked about her own college experience. She also announced two grants for universities in the Pacific.
In 2019, the Duchess of Sussex became patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Yousafzai, a Pakistani education activist, has also spent years advocating for girls’ right to learn. She became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014, at just 17. She received the prize for her advocacy for children’s education.
The outing came after Markle returned to the U.K. with Harry and their children. She has been spotted at several Cotswolds pubs lately. A few days back, Markle was photographed outside The Three Horseshoes, an 18th-century pub in Asthall, near Burford, Oxfordshire. She met longtime friends Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.
Markle spent time with her friend Kelly McKee Zajfen during Zajfen’s U.K. visit as well. Harry and Markle were also photographed holding hands as they headed to The Falkland Arms for lunch. A pub source told The Sun that the couple “just acted like locals.”
