Meghan Markle Is Heading to Texas This Week to Talk About A Subject Close to Her Heart

Meghan Markle at the 2023 Invictus Games

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 4 March 2024

When it comes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, we’re never quite sure on any given day or any given week where they might turn up. Jamaica for the Bob Marley biopic premiere? Sure! Canada for three days of Invictus Games events? Absolutely! Now, Meghan’s got another calendar entry we’ll be watching with interest: keynoting a panel at SXSW in Austin about women in the media alongside Katie Couric and Brooke Shields.

The panel will take place on Friday—International Women’s Day—and is called “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen”; the discussion “will focus on how the ubiquitous nature of social media is ‘creating an often dangerous environment which has led to serious mental health issues for teenage girls in particular,’” according to the festival description (and per Variety).

“Women’s representation in media and entertainment has come a long way, but there’s still much to be done, especially for women of color and mothers,” a release obtained from People read about the keynote. The group of Meghan, Couric, and Shields was described as “visionary female leaders at the forefront of news, media, entertainment, and philanthropy who are breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and working toward a healthier society on and off our screens.”

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Meghan Markle at the 2018 Endeavor Fund Awards — Meghan will take the stage alongside Katie Couric and Brooke Shields

When describing Meghan, “the Duchess of Sussex was shouted out as a feminist, champion of human rights and gender equity, and co-founder of the Archewell Foundation, among other accolades,” People reports.

Other featured speakers at SXSW include Sydney Sweeney, Lilly Singh, and Kirsten Dunst.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.