Unseen footage shows Meghan Markle wearing an Indian sari and bindi while on a secret trip to New Delhi in 2017
The Duchess of Sussex was seen sporting a sari and embracing Indian traditional wear in unseen footage from a charity trip she had made in 2017. Meghan had traveled to Mumbai and Delhi just after her romance with Prince Harry went public.
Meghan was eager to address and highlight the issue of gender equality and also girls' limited access to education in the country. As news of her romance with Prince Harry spread, reports suggested that their trip had been canceled due to security reasons. Clearly, the trip did happen but the images from the trip were never released until now. Meghan did not post any photos to her Instagram account even though she had previously shared snaps from charity trips to Rwanda.
The footage of Meghan in Delhi dates back to more than two years ago and also provided a chance to highlight her previous charity work as she takes a break from her royal duties given the upcoming birth of her first child with Prince Harry. While on the trip Meghan had visited several schools and also helped to paint a mural as well as plant a flower in the gardens. She was also seen sporting the traditional tilak which was put on her forehead by one of the local girls.
While on a school visit, Meghan shared, "What we found is that the enrolment at this school went up three times once the latrines were built so that girls had access to clean hygiene and bathroom facilities while they're at school." Meghan revealed that some girls are actually forced to drop out of school as they don't have "bathrooms available to care for themselves." Just half of the secondary schools in India have toilets while more than 110 million teenage girls are at the risk of dropping out.
During her trip, the Duchess of Sussex also participated in high-level meetings with many different NGOs including an audience with a former member of the National Commission for Women, Shamina Shafiq. Meghan was also introduced to the Myna Mahila Foundation which helps women and girls who live in Mumbai's slums. The organization aims to provide the women and girls with employment and basic sanitary products which help challenge the cultural taboo about menstrual hygiene.
The charity foundation was amongst the seven nominated by Meghan and Harry to receive donations at the time of their wedding last year. Meghan and Harry got married at the St George's Chapel at the Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2018.
