Meghan Markle Teams Up with Katie Couric and Brooke Shields on International Women's Day Panel at SXSW

Meghan Markle is celebrating International Women's Day beside some famous faces.

After Meghan and Prince Harry had a dinner date at Soho House Austin in Texas on Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex stepped out on Friday for the opening day of the SXSW Conference. Coinciding with International Women's Day, Meghan, 42, joined a panel called "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen" alongside Katie Couric, Brooke Shields and author and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen in a conversation moderated by Errin Haines, host of The Amendment podcast and editor-at-large for The 19th.

Prince Harry, 39, proudly supported his wife from the crowd, sitting front and center for the panel.

Markus Anderson, a close friend of the couple, was also in the audience seated next to Prince Harry.

During the discussion, Meghan shared the story about how she advocated for Procter & Gamble to change a dishwashing soap commercial that advertised its product only to women when she was only 11. Shields chimed in, "When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute. I wish I had known you."

"A little different," Meghan replied with a laugh.

Speaking about social media, the Duchess of Sussex shared that she does "keep her distance from it right now for my own well-being."

"The bulk of the bullying and the abuse that I was experiencing in social media and online was when I was pregnant, with Archie and with Lili, and with a newborn with each of them," she said, wondering "why people would be so hateful" during a "tender and sacred time."

"It's not catty, it's cruel," she said.

Meghan previously opened up about having thoughts of suicide. "I was ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry. But I knew that if I didn't say it — then I would do it," she said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in March 2021. "I just didn't want to be alive anymore."

Meghan also pointed out during the SXSW panel that it's often women speaking poorly about other women online. "I can not make sense of that," she said.

Shields followed up by saying it was her daughters who advised her not to read comments, as she hadn't grown up with social media.

"As moms, and as I was saying earlier when you're a new mom, it's a really vulnerable time," Meghan said. "The effect that social media can have on new mothers, even just the lack of sleep because they spend all this time scrolling, but it can also be really dizzying for them to see this portrayal of motherhood that looks so perfect when we all know it's not perfect. We all know that it's messy."

"I'm fortunate in that, among the privileges I have in my life, I have an incredible partner," Meghan continued, gesturing toward Prince Harry in the audience. "My husband is such a hands-on dad and such a supporter of me and my family. That I don't take for granted. That is a real blessing. But a lot of people don't have that same level of support. So I think for us, it's about putting safeguards in so women and moms especially can not feel like they're even more vulnerable when they go online."

Meghan regularly marks International Women's Day with public appearances. In 2023, she joined the Archewell Foundation team at Harvest Home, a Los Angeles-based organization that supports women and children. The group spent the day creating a pop-up baby boutique and hosted lunch from a female-owned restaurant in addition to donating to the charity.

"Happy International Women's Day to all of you! Whether donating your time, funds or helping a woman in your community, let's all celebrate the women in our lives today and every day!" said a message on the Archewell Foundation website.

The Duchess of Sussex has also marked International Women's Day by participating in a 2019 panel discussion (while she was pregnant with Prince Archie!), sending treats to the Hubb Community Kitchen (which Meghan helped to a cookbook to raise funds following the Grenville Tower fire in 2017) and visiting a school for an International Women's Day assembly.

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On Thursday, a report funded by Meghan and Harry's Archewell Foundation was released with Moms First and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media analyzing the portrayals of mothers in the media.

"My past experience as an actress, and now today as a producer and mother, have amplified my belief in the critical importance of supporting women and moms both behind the lens and in front of it," Meghan said in a statement, according to Vanity Fair, which was first to report the news. "This report about the portrayal of mothers in entertainment highlights the gaps we need to fill to achieve true representation in the content we create and consume, and I’m honored to support this work through the Archewell Foundation."