Mary Robinson has been praised by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex as “one of the people I admire most”.

The Duchess made the remarks in Manchester for the One Young World summit, revealing that the pair first met at a previous summit in Ottawa in 2016.

The One Young World summit is a global forum that seeks to empower young people to “raise the bar for what it is possible to achieve as leaders, individually and collectively.” 

Meghan joined the organisation in 2014 and said the experience was life-changing. 

Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London.

"There I was, the girl from [the legal drama] Suits," she recalled. 

"I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and long-standing respect and admiration for... And I was allowed in, to pull up a seat at the table.

"I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it.

"Just proof: proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn't sure that I belonged."

Working trip

The Duchess also said she was “thrilled” to be back in Britain alongside Prince Harry. The couple will later attend an event associated with next year’s Invictus Games as well as the WellChild Awards - a charity which Prince Harry is patron of. 

It would seem there are no plans for the couple to drop in on Queen Elizabeth during her summer holiday at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. 

The couple flew in for her Platinum Jubilee long weekend but relations with family members have been strained ever since the Duke and Duchess’ bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021.

Main image: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Picture by: (Photo by DPPA/Sipa USA)