Meghan Markle revealed she ‘felt uncomfortable being out in the world’ when she was a working royal and ‘craved safety’ in a speech at Oprah’s book event.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, attended her friend Oprah’s book club session at the Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, located just a few miles from where she lives in Montecito, California, on Saturday.
The mother-of-two, who wore a £315 jumpsuit by Club Monaco, was pictured sitting in the front row before taking to the stage to briefly address the group, where she spoke about the solace she has found in bookstores.
According to Town & Country, the Duchess detailed going to a bookstore during her trip to New York in 2019 – when Meghan’s A-List pals threw her a baby shower at one of the most expensive suites at The Mark Hotel in Manhattan.
The Duchess said: ‘For me, sneaking to New York five years ago was a really big deal.
Pictured: Meghan Markle seen on stage at Oprah’s book club event at Godmothers book store in Summerland last Friday
‘I was still so uncomfortable being out in the world. The safety of what I was craving, I knew I could find in a bookstore.’
The Duchess then went on to thank the founders of the Godmothers bookstore Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson for ‘for holding the space for so many people to feel seen through the pages, either in laughter, in grief, in feeling less alone’.
After the event finished, the publication reports Meghan said: ‘Wasn’t that incredible?’
The Duchess is then said to have ‘made a dash for the door’ and told guests: ‘I’ve got to make dinner for the kids.’
Other high-profile guests at Saturday’s event included Glee actress Jane Lynch and author Elizabeth Holmes, who wrote the 2020 book HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style, which featured analysis of Meghan’s wardrobe.
The bookstore is promoting several popular celebrity books including Meghan’s children’s book The Bench and Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, which can be found front-and-centre in the shop, on its ‘hometown heroes’ shelf.
Meghan’s comments on personal safety come after the Mail on Sunday reported how Prince Harry is pressing ahead with his legal battle against the Home Office over his taxpayer-funded security.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex received full publicly funded protection before stepping back as working royals and moving to Montecito, California in 2020.
During her speech at the book event, Meghan Markle (pictured with Prince Harry in October 2019) said she ‘craved safety’ and ‘felt uncomfortable being out in the world’ when she was a working royal
Meghan Markle pictured with son Archie and daughter Lilibet at their home in Montecito, California
The couple still receive protection when they return to Britain in specific circumstances but must give 28 days’ notice of their plans.
For the past three years, Prince Harry has been battling to restore his round-the-clock security while in the UK, which is understood to be part of his desire to return to Britain more regularly.
Following the event at Godmothers bookstore on Saturday, psychic medium Laura Lynne Jackson praised Meghan as one of the evening’s ‘light-filled speakers’.
Oprah Winfrey – who was the evening’s main speaker – has been close friends with the Duchess for several years and attended the Royal Wedding in May 2018.
At a launch party for the bookstore last week, Prince Harry dubbed Oprah Winfrey one of his ‘fairy godmothers’, which is said to have inspired the name of the business.
According to Town & Country, the royal couple arrived in a ‘darkened Range Rover’ and warmly greeted other guests – including Ellen DeGeneres, Jane Lynch and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos – at the venue.
Pictured: Meghan Markle seen reading her children’s book The Bench, which is sold at the new Godmothers bookstore
The Sussexes enjoyed an evening with ‘friends and family’ of literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh (left) and cosmetics star Victoria Jackson (right) last week
Town & Country also revealed that Prince Harry, 39, played a part in curating the bookshop’s name, as he had, at his own book party in Beverley Hills, thanked Oprah, Victoria and Jennifer for being his ‘fairy godmothers’. Pictured, decor at the bookshop
After Jennifer and Victoria shared some brief words with their intimate audience, Meghan, 43 – who donned a chic Ralph Lauren top and matching white trousers – was heard hollering out a ‘Woo!’.
Photos from the event show a grinning and glamorous Duchess hugging the talkshow host that interviewed them for their bombshell 2021 broadcast.
Their relationship appears to have grown even stronger over the years after the Sussexes moved into a $14million Montecito mansion, which is located just a stone’s throw from Oprah’s own sprawling home.
Oprah even publicly weighed in on whether she thought they should attend King Charles’ Coronation in May 2023.
‘I think they should do what they feel is best for them and their family. That’s what I think,’ she said on the CBS Mornings show ahead of the event, adding: ‘They haven’t asked me my opinion.’
Harry ultimately attended the Coronation without Meghan and left immediately after the ceremony to return to California.
Pictured: Meghan Markle leaving The Mark Hotel in Manhattan, where her baby shower was held in 2019
Meghan Markle has opened up about how her friends ‘surprised’ her with a ‘beautiful’ baby shower at The Mark Hotel in Manhattan when she was expecting her son Archie (Pictured: The Duchess with friends including Abigail Spencer, Daniel Martin, Misha Nonoo, Serena Williams and Lindsay Roth)
In one photograph Meghan, dressed in a navy blue polka-dot dress, can be seen laughing with her friends
In the couple’s 2022 Netflix docu-series, Meghan opened up about her ‘beautiful’ baby shower in New York.
The Duchess celebrated the impending birth of her son by flying to the Big Apple by private jet in 2019. Around 20 friends attended the five-day celebration, including Serena Williams.
Speaking in the show, Meghan recalled: ‘My friends surprised me with a really beautiful baby shower in New York.
‘They were like, “We’re going to shower her with love, and shower her baby, and she’s going to survive this and we’re going to get through it with her.”‘
Meanwhile, Meghan’s friend Silver Tree said: ‘It’s like this really magical time of us just celebrating her.’
Serena added: ‘It was just so cool and so fun to try to have an intimate moment.’
Guests attending the event included Meghan’s makeup artist Daniel Martin, her former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and her former BFF Jessica Mulroney.
Meanwhile Misha Nonoo, Serena Williams and close friend Lindsay Roth can also be seen posing in snaps from the 2019 event.
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