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Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s Latest Outing Involved Inspiring Youth & Looking Super Cute

by Parry Ernsberger
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With only a few weeks to go before their May 19 wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended the Commonwealth Youth Forum together on April 18. Harry recently assumed a new royal position as the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, and he and Markle looked like old pros as they made the rounds at the event.

The Commonwealth Youth Forum, according to a tweet from Kensington Palace, is an annual, multi-day summit that "brings together 500 young leaders from across the commonwealth to exchange ideas, develop youth-led initiatives and illustrate the power potential for young people in shaping the future of the Commonwealth."

Harry has long-been an advocate for youth-focused initiatives, and was appointed as Youth Ambassador on Monday, April 16 by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. In his new role, as per the Commonwealth's website, he'll specifically be working to help the UK's next generation address issues like climate change, employment, education access, and gender equality.

Since they're not yet married, having Markle join Harry for the official appearance is technically a break in royal tradition. However, this wasn't the first time the couple decided to do things a little differently. In December 2017, Markle became the first fiancée to attend Christmas Day celebrations with the rest of her soon-to-be royal family, according to E!, which totally goes to show how well she's already fitting in.

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In his inspiring speech at the opening of the Forum on Monday, Harry noted that, over all of the Commonwealth's 22 island nations, more than 60 percent of the total population — nearly 1.4 billion people —  are under the age of 30. The strength in these numbers appears to be one of the main reasons he so adamantly believes that motivating the Commonwealth's youth will incite impactful changes.

The Prince applauded the aspirations of Forum's attendees, saying,

"You are connected. You have made positive use of technology to build relationships within your communities, nations and across the globe. You care. You want your nations to be cleaner, your planet to be greener, your friends and neighbors to be treated fairly and with respect, no matter their ethnicity, their religion, or their status. You are optimistic. The complicated challenges we face — climate change, inequality, conflict — they do not discourage you. Rather, they inspire you to persevere and effect change."
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He also gave shoutouts to both Markle and his grandmother over the course of his speech — and then the entire world collectively swooned. He said of Markle,

"I am also incredibly grateful that the woman I am about to marry, Meghan, will be joining me in this work, of which she too is hugely excited to take part in."

Markle's appearance at the Forum was mostly one of support as she doesn't have a specific role yet, but she and Harry both mingled with delegates at the event — and Markle looked like a total natural. Wearing a belted, pin-striped Altuzarra dress — which will probably be sold-out by the time you finish reading this post, if it's not sold-out already — Markle appeared poised, engaged, and beyond personable.

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If their shared passion for social activism is any indication, these two are pretty much a match made in heaven. They even asked that their wedding guests donate to charities in lieu of giving them gifts — which is probably a huge relief for more than a few people, because what on Earth do you even buy for a royal couple anyway? A toaster? Some throw pillows? A set of stemless wine glasses, perhaps? Yeah, probably not.

If either Harry or Markle are feeling pre-wedding jitters before their big day, they sure aren't showing it. Markle appears to have seamlessly transitioned into her new role as a soon-to-be royal, and Harry always looks elated to have her by his side. Based on what we've seen so far of the philanthropic couple, these two are totally on track to change the world.