Meghan and Harry’s Colombian ‘quasi-royal’ tour: Duchess speaks in Spanish during her ‘Afro women and power’ talk as she rolls out the same Procter and Gamble yet story again – despite eyebrows being raised about its validity

Meghan Markle spoke Spanish during her ‘Afro women and power’ talk on the final day of her quasi-royal tour of Colombia with Prince Harry. 

The Duchess of Sussex gave a speech at the event in the city of Cali’s theatre, which was surrounded with a security ring of steel including dozens of armed police and soldiers.

Meghan proudly retold her go-to tale about how she wrote to Procter & Gamble aged 11 to ask the brand to change its sexist soap commercial.

But before she spoke as part of the panel, there appeared to be heckler among the crowds. 

The Duchess also paid tribute to her mother and gushed over her three-year-old daughter Lilibet. 

‘[I] encourage our daughter […] at three she has found her voice and we are so proud of that,’ she said. 

‘For me I find inspiration in so many of the strong women around me. My mother being one of them. Life is full of surprises and can be quite complex.’ 

Meghan opened her intervention at the debate speaking in Spanish and calling Ms Marquesa ‘my friend’, before going on to pay tribute to Harry in English. 

The Duchess learned Spanish in 2002 when interning at the U.S. embassy in Argentina. 

To a huge cheer Meghan said: ‘I would like to begin in Spanish because we are in your country, my husband and I, and I can feel this embrace from Colombia.

‘It’s incredible, so many, many thanks, because the culture, the history, everything has been like a dream on this trip.

‘Sorry if my Spanish is not perfect because I learned it 20 years ago in Argentina, but I’m trying here because I can feel this community and this feeling which is the best in the world.’

She added: ‘So thank you very much to the vice president, my friend, many thanks.’

A Colombian journalist said: ‘For Meghan to say my friend in that way is such a powerful statement and shows just how close they have become. People will take note of that.’

Meghan then continued in English to retell her childhood story about writing to Procter & Gamble. ‘I was very, very fortunate at a young age to feel as though my voice was being heard,’ she said. 

‘And I think that is a luxury that a lot of young girls and women aren’t often afforded.

‘I was 11-years-old, and you may know this story, I had seen a commercial that I felt was sexist, and I wrote a letter, several letters, about it, and the commercial was changed. 

‘When you’re 11-years-old, you realise very quickly that your small voice can have a very large impact.

‘I think it creates the framework to feel empowered to use your voice, because you know you’re being listened to.’ 

The Duchess often uses the childhood tale in her speeches and interviews, despite some questions being raised about its validity. 

The account was stripped out of a Vanity Fair cover story in 2017 after ‘fact checkers raised questions about its accuracy,’ a biography claimed in 2022. 

The anecdote was cut from the cover story ‘after consulting P&G and advertising historians,’ according to Tom Bower’s book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors.

Meghan continued: ‘Does it ever feel good to use your voice and no one hears you. That’s not ideal.

‘So for us and the work that we do with our Archewell Foundation, certainly the work that we do as parents, as 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.

‘And the same goes for adult women and men. This isn’t something that can be solely responsible and in the hands of just women. 

‘Yes, we work incredibly well together as a team, but as my husband, is great testament to the role of men in this of empowering women, of allowing them to know that their voices are heard, starting at a young age all the way through adulthood, is key.

‘So at the Archewell Foundation, we are very, very dedicated to creating a sense of community, but also one in which women are heard and that their ideas are really felt and implemented in the programming that we do.

‘So we just recently launched a program called the parents network, which is for parents who have lost children or have encountered the worst possible challenges and level of grief as a result of online harms, and allowing those mothers, those parents, to be heard, is very key to the work that we’re doing.’

At the end Harry joined his wife on stage for a group photograph – holding hands on stage with her – and they were later due to meet ‘young people’ in the region before heading off to the festival later in the afternoon. 

The Duchess wore a sleeveless white shirt with a patterned skirt, while her husband opted for another light-coloured shirt for the event. 

Earlier in the day, the couple arrived at Cali’s municipal theatre just before 11am local time and were ushered to their front row seats.

Next to them was vice president Francia Marquez – the first black woman to hold the position – who is showing the pair around the city. 

The Duke and Duchess clapped as the forum was introduced and the panel of six women took their seats.

As they were introduced the forum host pointed out that they had entered the theatre to a love song, and Meghan was pictured nodding and laughing.

Harry was seen passing bottles of water along the row to Meghan and other VIPs as the event kicked off. 

He listened through an ear piece to a simultaneous translation and at points Meghan could be seen nodding her head as the panel spoke.

Colombia has the third largest population of African descent after Nigeria and Brazil and the couple’s host for their trip is vice president Marquez. 

The Afro women in power forum will appeal to Meghan, who has referenced her Nigerian ancestry several times. 

Ms Marquez and the Duchess are said to have developed a ‘close bond’ in the last few days since meeting in person, and have been pictured hugging warmly each time they meet.

Speaking in 2014 to Amnesty, Ms Marquez said Colombia’s Afro women ‘must keep going’, despite the risks they face.

She believed women have a key role to play because their ‘caring instinct’ drives them to protect not only their children, but also their territory, the environment and their communities.

‘We need to feminize politics and fill humanity with maternal love,’ she said. 

‘War has always been driven by machismo, by the patriarchy and by business between men. I think these men need to stop being so aggressive in life and think about feminizing themselves.’

Meanwhile the Petronio Alvarez music festival Harry and Meghan which they will attend is the largest Afro-Colombian celebration in the country and held every August.

It opened earlier this week and ends tonight with a ‘battle of the bands’ and draws heavily on Afro-Colombian groups, with stalls selling food and dancing through the streets and the main stage is at a sports complex called Unidad Deportiva Alberto Galinda.

Since its foundation in 1997 it has evolved into a significant celebration of Afro-Colombian music and culture in Latin America.

It was aimed at uniting artists from Colombia’s Pacific coast and giving them a platform to express and celebrate their rich cultural heritage.

Ana Copete, the director of last year’s version of the festival, said at the time: ‘What this festival has done in the past 27 years is to tell Colombia and the world that we are a multi-ethnic and multicultural country.

‘We, as Afro-Colombians, have forged the identity of this country; we have built this country, hand in hand with others. And we deserve the dignity of our culture, not only as folklore but as a way of life.’

But critic Addo Obed Possu, who makes drums and other traditional instruments for the festival, was quoted in a report last year as claiming it was becoming too political.

He cited the inclusion of big acts like salsa band Grupo Niche he said had nothing to do with the musical culture, saying: ‘It takes away funds from a black musician, who comes from the deep territories of the Pacific Coast, to perform traditional music and be on the spotlight during the festival.

‘For example, with the amount of money they pay Grupo Niche, they could double the pay of each of the groups that come from the four participating regions.’

Wherever Harry and Meghan go in Colombia the same complaint always seems to follow them. 

You hear it in the narrow streets of La Candelaria in Bogota and within the ancient walled city of Cartagena 600 miles away on the country’s Caribbean coast, where the couple touched down yesterday, the latest stop on their faux royal tour.

It is that while locals are only too aware the Sussexes are in town – the excess of armed police, sirens, blocked-off roads and traffic jams are perpetual reminders – it irks that they never see them in the flesh.

‘It’s very strange, they move like ghosts,’ said Arturo, a waiter, sheltering from the Andean sun under a palm frond on Avenida Jimenez de Quesada on Thursday afternoon.

At each carefully selected venue, the duke and duchess arrive and depart unseen, invariably exiting at speed via an underground car park or hidden side street in a roaring phalanx of flashing Land Cruisers.

While their elusiveness irritates some, others in Bogota and Cartagena remain determinedly incurious – ‘they’re nothing special’ and ‘who cares?’ are common refrains.

The couple rounded off the third day of their royal tour by visiting traditional Afro-Caribbean village, San Basilio de Palenque.    

The trip to the village involved a half hour helicopter ride from Cartagena and then a 15 minute drive along a pot holed road lined with soldiers and at one point a tank.

To beat the 30c heat and humidity Meghan dressed in white linen skirt, sleeveless blouse and Panama hat. Harry had a light blue linen shirt and cream trousers and seemed uncomfortable in the heat with sweat stains under his arms.  

They were met with a warm welcome as locals clapped, cheered and waved at the couple who were accompanied by their usual security team.