Meghan Markle was all smiles as she walked out of Soho’s Crosby Hotel with political activist Gloria Steinem after having stepping out with her husband at an UN event.

The Duchess of Sussex, 40, grinned as she held hands with Steinem, switching her outfit from the earlier event held in honor of Nelson Mandela.

Both Meghan and Steinem appeared in Vogue two weeks ago in wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Meghan urged men to be ‘more vocal’ with their anger and revealed her husband’s response to the ruling was ‘guttural’.

Steinem declared the day after the ruling that she would welcome women traveling to New York for an abortion into her own Manhattan home.

She donned a $1,590​ Givenchy patch pocket skirt when appearing alongside her husband as he featured as a keynote speaker at the UN General Assembly. 

Prince Harry waded into US politics as he blasted the ‘rolling back of constitutional rights’ during his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly for Nelson Mandela Day, in New York City.

The 37-year-old also claimed SCOTUS overturning Roe was part of a ‘global assault on democracy and freedom,’ as he also cited Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine among problems facing the world. 

The comments, heard by a mostly-empty room at the United Nations on Monday morning, were the latest broadside at US politicians.

With her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Meghan looked typically stylish during the UN event Monday.

She wore a statement garment from the French brand, which she teamed with a simple black blouse, $725 Manolo Blahnik heels and a matching Mulberry handbag. 

Meghan previously wore the same skirt when visiting Dublin, Ireland, on July 10, 2018, but selected a dark green shade rather than the black version she sported Monday. 

She kept her look simple, forgoing a necklace and sporting only dainty golden earrings – however, she did opt for several bracelets, a watch and plenty of rings.

Meghan sported a $6,900 Cartier Love bracelet, Princess Diana’s Cartier Tank Watch – which costs $23,000 – and a $3,000 Jennifer Meyer gold tennis bracelet. 

As for her rings, she was seen wearing her $350,000 Triology engagement ring, as well as her wedding ring, and two Shiffon Duet Pinky Rings, which retail for $525 each.

The mother-of-two completed her look with a smattering of glamorous makeup – including a pink lip, rose blush and a smokey eye. 

She later swapped the Mulberry bag for a $428 Nia Wooden Beaded Clutch Bag, white blouse and navy skirt. 

Meghan and Steinem, 88, spoke to Vogue magazine in conversation with journalist Jessica Yellin just days after the SCOTUS ruling.

Markle said that all men need to join women in the fight to protect abortion rights. 

‘Men need to be vocal in this moment and beyond because these are decisions that affect relationships, families, and communities at large,’ she said. ‘They may target women, but the consequences impact all of us.’

‘My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. He’s a feminist to. We have to channel that fear into action. We can start this November in the midterms. We have to vote, every time’. 

Steinem, who was approached by Meghan in 2020, when the Duchess realized that she was sheltering during the pandemic near their California home, said she could confirm that Harry was deeply interested in women’s rights.

She called the pair ‘chosen family’. 

‘His reaction last week was guttural, like mine,’ Meghan said. ‘I know that for so many women right now, there is a sentiment of despair. But again, we have to band together and not wallow. We have to do the work.’ 

Meghan argued it was important to ‘normalize conversation about the things that affect our lives and bodies’, referencing her own decision to speak out in November 2020 about her own miscarriage.

‘This is about women’s physical safety,’ she said. ‘It’s also about economic justice, individual autonomy, and who we are as a society. Nobody should be forced to make a decision they do not want to make, or is unsafe, or puts their own life in jeopardy.’

Steinem told the story of her own abortion, performed in London, which she said allowed her to live the life she chose.

‘Here you’re talking to two women: one who chose to give birth happily, and one who chose not to give birth happily,’ the Duchess said. ‘And we’re both prospering because we were able to make our own choices.’

Steinem, born in Ohio, moved to New York in 1960, and in 1971 famously launched Ms. Magazine – the first publication to be owned and operated by women. 

Meghan and Harry arrived hand in hand Monday, ahead of his speech to delegates on climate change and poverty during the two hour meeting at the UN.

It marked the first time the couple have been seen in public since jetting to the UK to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last month, where they kept a low profile.

Despite the event meant to be in celebration of Nelson Mandela Day, the Prince launched an attack on American politics during his keynote speech.

He said: ‘This has been a painful year in a painful decade. We are living through a pandemic that continues to ravage communities in every corner of the globe.

‘Climate change wreaking havoc on our planet with most vulnerable suffering most of all. The few weaponizing lies and disinformation at the expense of the many.

‘And from the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional right in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom the cause of Mandela’s life.’

It is not the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have waded into American politics, finding themselves in hot water after commenting on the US election.

During a Time 100 video in September 2020 they called on American voters to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’ in ‘the most important election of our life.’

Members of the royal family are supposed to be politically neutral, when they stepped back from their roles the Sussex’s vowed that ‘everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty’.

During his speech Monday, Prince Harry went on to say a photograph of his mother Princess Diana meeting Nelson Mandela remains ‘on his wall and his heart’.

He said his mothers ‘joy and playfulness’ can be seen in the photograph, taken in Cape Town in March 1997, just five months before her tragic death.

Addressing the UN, Harry said: ‘For me there is one photo in particular that stands out. On my wall and in my heart everyday is an image of my mother and Mandela meeting in Cape Town in 1987.

‘It was presented to me by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whose friendship and inspiration were their own treasured gift.

‘My wife and I had the honor of introducing our four-month-old son to him in 2019. But when I first looked at the photo straight away what jumped out was the joy on my mother’s face.

‘The playfulness, cheekiness even, the pure delight to be in communion with another soul so committed to serving humanity.

‘Then I looked at Mandela. Here was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, asked to heal his country from the wreckage of its past and transform it for the future.

‘A man who had endured the very worst of humanity – vicious racism and state-sponsored brutality. A man who had lost 27 years with his children and family that he would never get back.’

The General Assembly established July 18 – Mandela’s birthday – as an international day to honor him not only by celebrating his life and contributions but by carrying out the tradition of participating in a community service activity.

During the event the 2020 UN Nelson Mendela Prize was awarded to Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis of Greece and Dr Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea.

This prize is handed out every five years and recognises people who have dedicated their lives to the service of humanity.

Harry was accompanied at the U.N. by his wife Meghan. The former actress spoke at a conference at UN headquarters organized by UN Women on International Women’s Day in 2015, before her marriage to the prince.

In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the duchess´ native Southern California, where they continue to live with their two children.

Harry and Meghan visited South Africa in 2019 with their son, Archie, on their first official tour as a family before they gave up royal duties.

They then travelled to Canada for a family holiday, and planned their move away from the Royal Family – stepping down from their roles before moving to the US.  

Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, met Mandela in March 1997, just five months before her death in a car crash in Paris.

His speech comes hours after it was revealed in a new bombshell book that his Eton pals called him ‘f***ing nuts’ for dating Meghan.

Tom Bower, journalist and author of ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors’ says Harry invited Meghan to join him at Sandringham for his weekend shoot in 2016.

Their relationship had only just been publicly revealed, and the Prince reportedly invited 16 friends to join him over the weekend. 

They mostly included old school pals from Eton, employed by international banks and auction houses, who joined him for dinner, shooting and lunch with the Queen’s permission.

Bower claims the Duke of Sussex had been excited for a weekend of ‘endless banter’ with his pals, but Meghan, 40, was less than impressed and ‘challenged every guest’ who ‘contravened her woke values’

Meghan ‘lacked any sense of humour’ and was a ‘dampener on the party’, Bower says in his new book, according to The Times newspaper.

She also reportedly ‘reprimanded them for their jokes about sexism, feminism and transgender people’, with Bower writing that Harry had ‘not anticipated’ Meghan’s reaction.

He wrote: ‘She lacked any sense of humour. Driving home after Sunday lunch, the texts pinged between the cars: “OMG, what about HER?” said one. “Harry must be f***ing nuts”.’

Bower claims Meghan ‘reprimanded guests’ if they made the ‘slightest inappropriate comment’ and ‘nobody was exempt’.

The claims comes after it was revealed Meghan ‘called her PR team in hysterics’ after Buckingham Palace reacted with ‘fury’ to ‘her Vanity Fair interview about Prince Harry’.

Bower says Meghan was ‘ecstatic’ when she was asked to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair’s September 2017 issue and do an interview with the magazine.

But when the magazine ran with the headline ‘Wild About Harry’ on its cover – focusing on Meghan’s relationship with the British prince rather than her work as an actor, activist and philanthropist – Bower says the Palace was taken aback.

Within hours of the magazine’s pre-publication copies being sent to Buckingham Palace, Bower says Meghan phoned her PR firm and ‘hysterically’ told them of the Palace’s fury.

Bower reports that Meghan was furious that the piece was not more focused on her philanthropy but says this was due to the fact Vanity Fair researchers were unable to substantiate two key stories she had told about her activism as a young child.

After first discussing Meghan’s speech at the United Nations and a letter she sent to Procter & Gamble as an 11-year-old requesting that they change a slogan promoting washing-up liquid that was deemed sexist, she was asked about Harry.

As reported by Vanity Fair in 2017, Meghan said: ‘We’re a couple. We’re in love.

‘I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time.

‘This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story.’

‘Just like Madiba, he’s been through a lot’: Prince Harry is mercilessly mocked by South African newspaper for preachy keynote speech honoring Nelson Mandela 

 BY JENNIFER SMITH, CHIEF REPORTER

The choice of Prince Harry as the keynote speaker at the UN event honoring Nelson Mandela was mocked by many around the world, including a South African newspaper which sarcastically compared the prince’s plight to that of the civil rights hero.

Harry was invited to speak at the UN in New York City by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the charitable organization run by Mandela’s family.

He was joined by wife Meghan, who showed up in a glamorous designer outfit worth some $3,000.

Harry used his 15-minute speech to lecture the sparse crowd on climate change, disinformation, the war on Ukraine, COVID and the decision by SCOTUS to reverse Roe vs Wade.

He might have resisted the chance to compare himself to Mandela, but South African newspaper The Sunday Times jumped at the opportunity.

In a column on Sunday, before Harry spoke, EditoR-at-Large Aspasia Karras wrote: ‘He’s in exile. Just like Madiba.

‘No, sorry, of course, he was imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island. Same, same-ish.

‘Harry is imprisoned in his gilded pleasure palace in Montecito with a podcast schedule and documentary team following him around.’

She labeled him the ‘self-styled Duke of L.A.’ and said: ‘Just like Mandela, he’s been through a lot.

‘As told to Oprah in his cri du coeur interview, his family and the British press have been giving him and his lovely wife Meghan such a hard time. All they wanted was to represent. And bring some fast paced LA management style to the fuddy-duddy palace.

‘You know what? They just had to leave. It was too much to bear.’

‘I think Harry is a perfect fit, what with the UN being such a very effective organization for world peace.

‘I’m really pleased he can grab hold of the global spotlight on such an important day, when we remember the sacrifices Mandela made for all of us and our rights. OK?

‘But especially for Harry’s right to a security entourage. That will show them,’ she wrote.

Other critics asked why Harry, who regularly uses private jets, had been chosen to give a speech on climate change.

‘Our world is on fire!’ he told the UN on Monday after arriving in New York City with Meghan, who wore more than $3,000 in designer clothes.

It’s unclear whether the couple arrived in New York City on a private jet.

Representatives for the pair did not immediately respond to inquiries about their travel, nor did spokespeople for The Nelson Mandela Foundation.