Meghan Markle has given her first public speech in the UK since stepping down as a working royal over two years ago.
The Duchess of Sussex attended the opening of the One Young World Summit in Manchester alongside duke Prince Harry on Monday evening.
The 41-year-old mum and former Hollywood star is a counsellor for the organisation, with the series of events this week bringing together young leaders from more than 190 countries.
Meghan and Harry were welcomed to the stage with other counsellors before the former delivered one of a number of key note speeches, including by Bob Geldof.
She told the audience: "It is very nice to be back in the UK.
"As you’ll likely hear many times this week…you’ll hear all sorts of things, some very heavy, some very uplifting, but the resounding spirit I believe you’ll hear is that you are the future.
"But I would like to add to that, that you are also the present.
"You are the ones driving positive and necessary change needed across the globe now in this very moment and for that, I am so grateful to be in your company today."
She also spoke about the first time she was asked to be a counsellor in 2014 and having a "pinch me moment".
"And there I was, the girl from Suits. I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and long-standing respect and admiration for.
"And I was allowed in, to pull up a seat at the table.
"I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it.
"Just proof: proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn't sure that I belonged."
It is the first stop of the Sussexes' tour after returning to the UK for the first time since the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in early June.
They stepped down from the Firm in March 2020 before settling in Montecito, California, the following summer.
Harry and Meghan left Windsor in high spirits earlier today - they stayed overnight in Frogmore Cottage, where they originally made home after getting married in 2018.
They left the estate in a convoy of Range Rovers, and are reportedly to be protected by a "ring of steel" while they are in the UK.
They were later spotted at Euston Station in central London, where they are thought to have caught a train to Manchester.
Meghan could be seen in a a pair of tanned brown wide-legged trousers and matching heels with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, while Harry wore navy chinos and a matching jacket.
The couple will then head to Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year to Go event tomorrow.
They will then return to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London where Harry will deliver a speech on Thursday.
In early June, the duke and duchess attended the service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral and were seen watching the jubilee parade but were not involved in the Buckingham Palace balcony flypast.
It comes just days after Meghan's wide-ranging interview with The Cut in which she said it takes "a lot of effort" to forgive and hinted that she can "say anything".
In the interview, running to more than 6,000 words, Meghan said that "just by existing" she and Harry were "upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy" before they stepped down as senior working royals.
