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#New The Duchess of Sussex, patron of the @the_acu_official, met Commonwealth scholars at Buckingham Palace to hear about their work around climate and the environment, sustainable cities, health innovation and technology (9th March)💙 #britishroyalfamily #britishroyals #princeharry #dukeofsussex #meghanmarkle #duchessofsussex #archieharrison #harryandmeghan #sussexroyal #royalfamily #instaroyals #royalnews

A post shared by Royal Addicted (@royal.addicted) on Mar 11, 2020 at 3:11pm PDT

You know what would be hilarious? If the Duchess of Sussex’s event numbers were larger than the Duchess of Cambridge’s for the month of March. That probably won’t happen, because of the Cambridges’ Irish struggle-tour, but still… Meghan fit A LOT of stuff into her week-long trip to London. And Kate wasn’t the only one who got to do a solo event at Buckingham Palace too – Meghan apparently hosted a meeting for the Association of Commonwealth Universities at BP. She wore this Scanlan Theodore dress in the Chris Allerton photos – a gamine little black dress with a tie by the neck. Very cute, very Audrey Hepburn. The dress retails for about $650. Meghan invited Omid Scobie to write about the event, which you can read here (I’ll be covering part of that Scobie piece separately). People Magazine also had some good coverage:

Meghan Markle made the most of her last day as a senior working royal in the U.K. Before attending the Commonwealth Service on Monday with her husband Prince Harry, the Duchess of Sussex attended a meeting at Buckingham Palace with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) — one of her royal patronages.

Meghan, 38, met with a group of Commonwealth and Chevening scholars as well as an ACU Blue Charter Fellow. Members of the group hailed from 11 different Commonwealth countries, including Malawi, India, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Meghan spoke with academics studying and researching important topics, such as cleaning up plastic pollution in the oceans, building more sustainable cities, improving health outcomes for citizens, and supporting decent work and economic growth.

As the students split into four groups (climate and the environment, sustainable cities, health innovation and technology), Meghan noted that they all had one thing in common. “Even though the groups are divided, everyone is connected because of this very holistic approach to tackling climate change,” she said. “I love how solution based you all are.”

Timothy Biswick, a University of Leicester research fellow from Malawi, said, “I’m impressed with what she has been saying here. She knows what she’s talking about. It’s not just coming here and listening to us, she knows what she’s talking about in terms of climate change.” He added, “She was talking about things in quite some detail so you know that this person knows what they are talking about and are passionate about it.”

Joanna Newman, Secretary General of the ACU, said: “One of the joys of the duchess being a patron has been her understanding of the value of higher education and her own experience of having been a student on a scholarship, her own experience of being a student doing international studies and also studying abroad for part of her degree.”

Before Meghan entered the room, Newman told the group: “You are all going to have a short period of time with our patron. She’s really interested in the work that we’re doing, she’s incredibly supportive. She is herself a scholar from the university where she got a scholarship, so she understands the importance of scholarships. And she’s been a real champion of the work that universities do.”

[From People]

You coulda had a bad bitch, Britain. You could have had a woman who is comfortable in every setting, who understands how to work a room and work one-on-one. You could have had this bright, beautiful, intelligent woman with a strong work ethic as one of your representatives to the world. Instead, you smeared her and abused her with racism and sexism. What’s always impressed me about Meghan is how EASY she makes it look. Like, of course she’ll spend time with kids one-on-one. Of course she would have read through her briefing papers on what these kids were working on. Of course she wanted to make each one of those students feel like they were important, that they were making a positive difference for the world. It becomes notable because… very few of the royals actually DO that.

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Earlier this week The Duchess of Sussex, in her role as Patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), met with the bright minds from across the Commonwealth to hear about their commitment to tackling the global challenges we all face. The Duchess spoke with Scholars studying and researching important areas surrounding; cleaning up plastic pollution in our oceans, helping to build more sustainable cities, improving health outcomes for citizens, and supporting decent work and economic growth. Paving the way as the next generation of leaders, these inspirational scholars, are spread far across the Commonwealth from Malawi to Malaysia, Ghana to Sri Lanka – all of whom will use the skills and knowledge they gain while studying in the UK to make a difference when they return to their home countries. The Duchess, who also attended university with support of a scholarship, is a strong advocate of accessible education for all. As the Royal Patron of The Association of Commonwealth Universities (@The_ACU_Official) since January 2019, The Duchess has met and engaged with students, academics, and staff from ACU member universities across the Commonwealth to learn more about the vital work they do to address global challenges. As President and Vice President of The @Queens_Commonwealth_Trust, The Duke and Duchess thank all those who are working to give access to education for all.

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Mar 11, 2020 at 3:33pm PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, Instagram and Avalon Red.