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While Prince Harry has proven to be a supportive husband, there is one area he is not expected to publicly support his wife Meghan Markle . According to The Telegraph, the Duke of Sussex will not join the Duchess in campaigning on US election voting “amid concern over the Royal Family becoming too closely embroiled in politics.” When it comes to political matters, Queen Elizabeth “has to remain strictly neutral.” The royal family’s website states, “By convention, The Queen does not vote or stand for election, however Her Majesty does have important ceremonial and formal roles in relation to the government of the UK.”
Although senior members of Her Majesty’s family do not exercise their right to vote, per Newsweek, Meghan, a US citizen, is no longer a working member of the royal family. The American-born Duchess, who stepped back as a senior member of the royal family earlier this year, has been vocal about voting in the upcoming election. Explaining why she plans to vote on Election Day, Meghan told Marie Claire that she knows “what it’s like to have a voice, and also what it’s like to feel voiceless.” She continued, “I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard.”
The Duchess also shared a quote from suffragist Kate Sheppard. “One of my favorite quotes, and one that my husband and I have referred to often, is from Kate Sheppard, a leader in the suffragist movement in New Zealand, who said, ‘Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops,’” Meghan said. “That is why I vote.” Harry, on the other hand, is not eligible to vote in November.
Just last week, Meghan participated in the virtual When All Women Vote Couch Party, which celebrated 100 years since the 19th Amendment allowed women to vote in the US. Although she did not endorse a specific candidate, the Suits alum spoke of “change” during her remarks. “Happy to be here for my friend Michelle Obama ’s When We All Vote and to kick off the When All Women Vote Couch Party. I think—look, if we’re looking at what’s happening here and the work that you’re doing here at the United State of Women, it is fair to say we are all very grateful for that work because we need it now really more than ever,” the Duchess said.
“When I think about voting and why this is so exceptionally important for all of us, I would frame it as we vote to honor all those who came before us and to protect those who will come after us because that’s what community is all about, and that’s specifically what this election’s all about. We’re only 75 days away from Election Day, and that is so very close and yet there’s so much work to be done in that amount of time because we all know what’s at stake this year. I know it. I think all of you certainly know it and if you’re here on this fun event with us, then you’re just as mobilized and energized to see the change that we all need and deserve,” she added. “We can and must do everything we can to ensure all women have their voices heard. Because at this juncture, if we aren’t part of the solution, we are part of the problem. If you aren’t going out there and voting, then you’re complicit. If you’re complacent, you’re complicit.”