Why Meghan Markle’s Tea With Malala Yousafzai May Be More Than Just A Friendly Catch-Up
With Meghan back in the UK, she surely would like to socialize, but it seems like her day out with Malala Yousafzai comes with a different agenda.
Meghan Markle’s recent afternoon tea with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai at Claridge’s in London has caught attention, but their meeting was about more than just a glamorous outing. The two women were seen deep in conversation, and that left many intrigued if they are the new BFFs in town. With Markle back in the UK after six years away, she would surely like to socialize, but it seems Markle's day out with Yousafzai has a different agenda.
Yousafzai previously discussed her and Markle's shared beliefs, writing, “Meghan and I are on the same page: we both believe that when girls have access to education, everyone wins.” Hence, there are speculations afuel that Markle may want to shape her public image as she begins a new chapter in the UK. According to royal editor Helen Coffey, the Duchess's public friendships could play a part in how she wants to be seen.
Writing to The Independent, she added that Markle was photographed a few weeks back with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, and that her recent sighting with the Nobel Prize winner suggested that meeting with the education activist could indicate how the Duchess wants to position herself in this next chapter of her life. As Coffey put it, Markle may be keen to shake off the “frivolous ‘just add edible flowers!’ la la land image” and cultivate a more “serious” persona, potentially producing more hard-hitting feminist content.
"As my colleague, Charlotte Cripps, previously noted, it’s been far from clear-cut just who Meghan could gather around her as the new glitzy Cotswolds social set," She opined.
The editor continued, "After all, plenty of the more obvious choices – Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, say, or Zara Philips and her husband Mike Tindall – might be minded to stay away initially, for fear of being seen as taking “sides” in the ongoing messy Royal Family feud."
While there is no assertiveness about Markle's intention, her meeting signals a deliberate change or simply reflects a friendship. The Duchess has, in a way, offered a glimpse of the public image she may want to build as she settles back into life in the UK.
