Meghan Markle made a subtle dig at the royal family with her new declaration of financial independence.
The Duchess of Sussex, who recently appeared at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2025 in Washington DC, told
Alyson Shontell, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer for Fortune, that true freedom is financial independence.
She began: “Well, financial independence is what gives you freedom of choice, and I think that we all in this day and age should be able to have our autonomy, that’s a huge element of the economic understanding of the reason that I spend a lot of time on, especially for young girls and their empowerment.”
The Duchess continued: “As women, when we support each other, for all these elements that may not necessarily be the ones people want to hear us talk about, there’s no taboo, there doesn’t need to be any taboo about talking about our financial independence or independence in general.
“As women we support each other, we not only support each other’s lives, we support each other’s legacies.
“That’s the piece that’s so powerful, when I support or invest in another female founder, I’m investing in what she’s going to do for the culture, for her company, the legacy she’s going to leave.”
Meghan added: “I don’t think it’s a conversation we should shy away from.”
