Have You Found Your Inner Princess?

There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the recent engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, especially a lot of talk about how she is an unlikely princess because she’s older than Harry, an American, an actress, a bi-racial, Protestant and divorced woman — all things that don’t really match the Royal family requirements at least not on paper. Yet here she is, part of this beautiful love story showing us all that no matter where we come from, what prejudice we’ve had to deal with, we can all find our prince who values and appreciates us for the unique and amazing being we are.

I can’t help but be inspired by their love story. It was the morning of my birthday that it popped up on my phone screen in the form of a news alert. I’m not particularly a fan of the Royal family, but just like every woman out there, I have my fair share of admiration for Kate, her grace, her relentlessness beauty, her amazing capacity to walk through life as if she’s floating on a cloud, her ease of stepping into the role of a duchess. Yet somehow Meghan inspires me even more.

While Kate had the so-called pedigree to become part of the Royal family, Meghan certainly did not. Born to a black mother and a white father, she’s always had to deal with issues of race and identity, to figure out her place in the world, where she belongs and where she wanted to make a difference. A descendant of a Georgia plantation slave, Meghan became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign, the agency’s campaign to provide safe, clean drinking water. She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate.

Her story begs the questions once again of what each and every one of us could do if we just put aside all the things that weigh us down, the things we believe define us and make us damaged, but rather empower us and make us fit to become exactly who we want to be, whether that means a princess, an ambassador, an advocate for the things we believe in. What is something you’ve already decided is impossible, yet if you just let go of all the things that are weighing you down, everything becomes possible?