Sayings
Her words, traced to their sources — and the lines she never said.
Verified quotations
“I am proud to be a woman and a feminist.”
Her opening line at the UN Women event in New York, March 2015, marking the 20th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference.
Source: Address to UN Women, March 2015; reported by the Associated Press.
“It is said that girls with dreams become women with vision.”
From the same 2015 address — the passage that followed:
“It is said that girls with dreams become women with vision. May we empower each other to carry out such vision — because it isn’t enough to simply talk about equality. One must believe it. And it isn’t enough to simply believe in it. One must work at it. Let us work at it. Together. Starting now.”
Source: Address to UN Women, March 2015; full passage quoted in contemporary press coverage.
“I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches — I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works.”
Source: The Tig, in her writing on her humanitarian work (widely quoted from the site’s archives).
“And this type of work is what feeds my soul, and fuels my purpose.”
The sentence that followed the “lady who lunches” line, in the same Tig piece.
Source: The Tig, “How To Be Both.”
“While my life shifts from refugee camps to red carpets, I choose them both because these worlds can, in fact, co-exist. And for me, they must.”
On reconciling acting with advocacy.
Source: The Tig, “How To Be Both.”
“Put me in a room with Madeleine Albright or former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, and for once in my life, you’ll find this girl with the gift of gab, unequivocally without words.”
On being starstruck by leaders rather than celebrities.
Source: The Tig, “How To Be Both.”
“To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”
Source: Elle UK, November 2016, in her essay on biracial identity.
“We’re two people who are really happy and in love.”
Source: Vanity Fair, September 2017 cover story — her first major interview about the relationship.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
On her mental health during her time as a working royal.
Source: CBS primetime interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired 7 March 2021. She added: “I was really ashamed to say it at the time, and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry especially because I know how much loss he suffered… that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”
“I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative.”
Source: Statement on Archetypes winning the People’s Choice Award, December 2022 (via PA Media).
Commonly misattributed
A large number of inspirational one-liners circulate online with Meghan Markle’s name attached — on Instagram graphics, quote sites, and merchandise — with no traceable primary source. Because no interview, speech, book, or archived Tig post can be found behind them, this site treats them as Unverified; do not attribute. The ten quotations above are the ones the evidence supports.
Source notes
- UN Women address (March 2015): Associated Press coverage of the Beijing+20 anniversary event; full passages preserved in contemporary press.
- The Tig quotations (2014–2017): quoted from the site’s archives in multiple contemporary outlets before the site closed in April 2017.
- Elle UK (November 2016), Vanity Fair (September 2017): the published interviews.
- Oprah Winfrey interview: CBS, aired 7 March 2021; transcript excerpts widely published.
- People’s Choice statement (December 2022): via PA Media.
- Misattribution policy: see methodology.md — a quotation is used only with a traceable source.