Archie Harrison is the driving force behind his mom Meghan Markle ’s actions. Months after stepping back as a senior member of the royal family, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that everything she does is for her one-year-old son. “Everything I’m doing is for Archie, our son. Perhaps from the outside it could look risky,” the Suits confessed (via Harper’s Bazaar) at Fortune’s virtual Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit. “But … if you’re living an authentic life, I don’t even know if you would define it as risk anymore. You just do what’s right.”
When asked if motherhood has made her more courageous or cautious, Meghan replied, “It’s interesting because my gut is that it makes you more courageous, it makes you so concerned for the world they’re going to inherit and so the things you’re able to tolerate on your own are not the same that you are going to put your child in a position of vulnerability for. You go every single day, how can I make this better for him, how can I make this world better for Archie? And that is a shared belief for my husband and I.”
She continued “At the same time, I am cautious of putting my family in a position of risk by certain things and so I try to be rather very clear with what I say and to not make it controversial but instead to talk about things that seem fairly straightforward, like exercising your right to vote. I think that is as simple as it comes and as necessary as it comes. And to that point, as a parent, I can enjoy all the fun and silliness and games with my son but I wouldn’t be able to feel proud of myself as a mom if I didn’t know that I was doing my part to make it a better place for him.”
The mom of one also spoke about chasing “her convictions with action” at the summit. “It’s not easy. That’s the first place all of us have to start with. Sometimes making the best decision for yourself and your family might not be the most popular one,” Meghan admitted (via People magazine). For the Duchess, her faith is “greater than” her fear. She said, “It has to be greater than whatever fears are hindering you from taking that step.”