Meghan Markle Interrupts Colombia Panel to Adjust Fan in Helpful Gesture: ‘That’s What We Do as Women’

The Duchess of Sussex’s unexpected moment was met with laughs and applause

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex during her participation in the Afro Women and Power Forum at the Municipal Theater of Cali during a visit around Colombia on August 18, 2024 in Cali, Colombia.

Meghan Markle fixes a fan at the Afro Women and Power Forum in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024. Photo:
Gabriel Aponte/Getty

Meghan Markle put the concept of “women helping women” into action with a small, unexpected gesture during her visit to Colombia with Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, joined a panel dedicated to highlighting and uplifting Afro-Colombian women on Aug. 18. At one point during the discussion, Meghan stood up and walked to the side of the stage, where she adjusted a fan to face the panelists, as seen in a video of the event.

Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez, who was on stage with Meghan, started applauding and the other panelists laughed as they realized what she was doing.

As she returned to her seat, Meghan said in Spanish, “Women helping women.”

A fellow panelist replied in Spanish, “Well done, thank you. And what’s more, [women] resolving the situation, thank you so much.”

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Francia Marquez Colombian vice president attend, and Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations makes her speech during the Afro Women and Power Forum at the Municipal Theater of Cali with the presence of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex during a visit around Colombia on August 18, 2024 in Cali, Colombia
Meghan Markle at the Afro Women and Power Forum in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
Gabriel Aponte/Getty

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A few moments later, Meghan connected the move to how making women feel comfortable can inspire them be their best selves.

“You see something wrong, you go to fix it. Maybe that’s just a very female thing — whether it’s a fan or something else,” she said. “That’s what we do, right, as women — we’re multitaskers, and we are fixers.”

US actress Meghan Markle addresses the audience during the Afro women and power forum, at the Municipal Theatre in Cali, Colombia, on August 18, 2024. Prince Harry and his wife, American actress Meghan Markle, are visiting Colombia at the invitation of Colombia’s vice-President Francia Marquez, with whom they have attended various meetings with women and young people to reject discrimination and cyberbullying.
Meghan Markle in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty

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Meghan’s helpful gesture of fixing the fan was just one of the times during their Colombia visit that she showed her Spanish-speaking skills. She kicked off her portion of the discussion by removing an earpiece used for translation assistance and speaking in Spanish to the audience. According to sussex.com, she expressed “her deep appreciation for the Colombian hospitality. She praised the culture and history of the country, describing the visit as a dream and highlighting the strong sense of community she felt.”
When she finished her remarks, the Duchess of Sussex mimed wiping sweat from her forehead and let out a “phew” to applause from the crowd.

Prince Harry (C), Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan Markle (R) pose for a picture with Colombia’s former Education Minister Aurora Vergara (L) and other participants, at the end of the “Afro women and power” forum, at the Municipal Theatre in Cali, Colombia, on August 18, 2024.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images

She spoke Spanish while visiting a kindergarten class, telling one boy in the language, “You’re the same age as my son,” referencing 5-year-old Prince Archie.

Following the panel, Meghan also did some translating for Prince Harry as they addressed the crowd at the Petronio Music Festival in Cali, celebrating Afro-Colombian music and dance.

Meghan honed her language abilities while she interned at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and studied abroad in Madrid, Spain.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex seen at the Unidad Recreativa El Vallado on August 18, 2024 in Cali, Colombia.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Colombia on Aug. 18, 2024.
Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty

Delivering the rest of her answers at the panel in English, Meghan spoke about feeling “fortunate” at a young age to “feel as though my voice was being heard, and I think that is a luxury that a lot of young girls and women aren’t often afforded.”

“For us and the work that we do with the Archewell Foundation, certainly the work that we do as parents and that I do as a mother, is ensuring that young girls feel as though their voices are being heard and also that young boys are being raised to listen and to hear those young women as well,” she said, adding of Prince Harry, 39, “As my husband is great testament to, the role of men in this…is key.”

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex pose for a photo at Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata during a visit to Colombia on August 15, 2024 in Bogota,
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024.
Diego Cuevas/Getty

Meghan later shared that her 3-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet, is already learning to use her voice.

“Part of the role modeling that I certainly try to do as a mother is to encourage our daughter — who, at 3, she has found her voice,” Meghan said. “And we’re so proud of that because that is how we, as I was saying, create the conditions in which there’s a ripple effect of young girls and young women knowing that if someone else is encouraging them to use their voice and be heard, that’s what they’re going to do.”