She’s been embracing a quieter life away from the glare of public attention in recent months, but the Duchess of Sussex returned to her activist roots this week. Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, joined a video conference call from their home in LA, to discuss injustice with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, of which they are vice president and president, respectively.

The Duchess, in a crisp white shirt – long a staple of her public-facing wardrobe – and a simple pendant necklace, dialled in with Harry to discuss the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement, and the global reckoning with systemic racism triggered by the police killing of George Floyd. During what Meghan called an “inspiring” and “energising” conversation, the group talked about how critical this moment could prove to be in terms of effecting real change.

“It’s not even in the big moments… it’s in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives,” said the Duchess. “It’s those nuances that makes it confusing for a lot of people, to understand the role they play in that – either passively or actively.” Meghan said the enduring momentum around the wave of recent protests marked a noticeable shift. “In people’s complacency they’re complicit, and that’s the shift I think we’re seeing. It wasn’t that this wasn’t always happening, it’s that it’s come to a head at a time when people have said ‘enough’.” Her sentiments were echoed by her husband, who said: “We can’t deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently. However, once you start to realise that there is bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to become more aware.”

The couple was joined on the call by Chrisann Jarrett, co-founder of We Belong; Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas; Mike Omoniyi, founder and CEO of The Common Sense Network; and Abdullahi Alim, who leads the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers network of emerging young leaders in Africa and the Middle East. “You are the next generation of leadership which this world so desperately needs as it goes through this healing process,” Prince Harry told the group.

Harry and Meghan, who stepped down as senior royals on 31 March, have been maintaining a low profile at their new LA base, though they have paid a visit to a local social enterprise that works to transform the lives of former gang members. The Duchess has also addressed the murder of George Floyd in a video message to the graduating class at her former high school, Immaculate Heart.

The events set in motion in Minneapolis on 25 May are clearly at the forefront of the Duchess’s mind as she and Harry settle into their new-look roles. She told the young activists: “We are right there with you standing in solidarity, and certainly doing everything we can from our end.”

Originally published on  British Vogue