George Floyd death: Meghan Markle opens up, 'only wrong thing to say is to say nothing'

Meghan Markle has broken her silence on the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota on May 25, and the subsequent protests in the United States and other parts of the world.

The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, of which Prince Harry is the president and his wife Meghan Markle is the vice-president, had released a series of tweets on Monday to show their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. However, the public has been looking for a separate response from Harry and Meghan who had made headlines with their 2018 wedding, as Meghan became one of the very few mixed-race women in the history of the British royal family.

The former American actress opened up about the movement in a video message to the graduating class of Immaculate Heart High in Los Angeles, of which she is an alumnus, and admitted the delay in her message. She said she felt unsure what was the "right" thing to say about the tragedy and the subsequent anti-racism protests.

The Duchess of Sussex, who is isolating with husband Harry and son Archie in Los Angeles, ultimately realised the worst she could do at the moment was to hold her silence about the situation, as she is heard saying in the video message first released by Essence magazine.

"What is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating. I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart," she confessed to the graduate students.

"I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing because George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered... and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know," the 38-year-old added.

Though the "Suits" alum hadn't yet reacted to the matter, an eight-year-old campaign video of her had resurfaced on the internet in which she spoke about her own experiences with racism and also said that she hopes people are more open-minded by the time she has children. In her address to the grad class on Thursday, she apologised to the students for having to grow up in a world where racism is still prevalent.

"So the first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present," Meghan said.

In the video message, that comes nearly 10 days after the death of George Floyd, the mother-of-one recalled her own childhood memories of the Los Angeles riots. "I was 11 or 12 years old and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by a senseless act of racism...And those memories don't go away," Meghan reflected.

The duchess expressed hope for the students to be a "part of this movement," and said: "With as diverse, vibrant and open-minded as I know the teachings are at Immaculate Heart, I know you know that Black lives matters."