Meghan Markle Celebrates International Day Of The Girl With Inspiring Childhood Footage

In honor of International Day of the Girl, the Duchess of Sussex released a touching video full of positive messages of hope and empowerment for young girls and women all across the world. But this passion was on display long before she was a member of the royal family. In fact, on Friday, Meghan Markle shared childhood footage, proving once again that she's always been inspiring and unstoppable.

Friday, Oct. 11 marks International Day of the Girl, a day created by the United Nations to "highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights." And there's really no on better than Markle to help spread this important message. The Duchess of Sussex has been a longtime advocate for girls and women, according to Good Morning America. And in a new Instagram post, Markle shared a video that reminded royal fans of just that. That she's been advocating for girls since she was just a child herself.

In the video, Markle talks about how every girl has a right to be heard and includes a short clip of herself as an 11-year-old girl, talking about making meaningful change. "If you see something you don't like on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people, and you can make a difference for not just yourself but lots of other people," a young Markle said in the clip.

That clip was taken from the Nickelodeon news program Nick News, which aired in 1993, according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the time, Markle was just a student who was rightfully upset with the wording in an ad for Ivory Dish Soap, according to Glamour, which inferred that women were the only people doing dishes in their household. So, Markle wrote a letter "to the right people" and was able to get the wording in the ad changed.

While it's been more than 25 years since she wrote that letter, her message still resonates today, of course. Markle goes on to reiterate in the video, which includes photos and videos from her recent trip to South Africa with her husband Prince Harry, that girls are unstoppable. "Every girl has potential," she said. "She has promise. She has the right to learn, the right to be heard, the right to play, and to discover. The right to be exactly who she is."

This isn't the first time Markle has acknowledged her iconic video from the 90s, according to Glamour. In 2015, Markle delivered a speech at the 2015 UN Women's Conference, where she talked about how this moment in her life was critical in shaping her into the woman she is today. "When I was just 11 years old, I unknowingly and somehow accidentally became a female advocate," she said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. "It was around the same time as the Beijing conference, so a little over 20 years ago, where in my hometown of Los Angeles, a pivotal moment reshaped my notion of what is possible."

Markle wrote in the caption of her Instagram post that she wants young girls to come away with one message on this very special day — "visualize your highest self and show up as her." And if Markle has done anything, it's that. In 1993, she unknowingly made a huge change for women all across the nation. Now, she has the power to do that on a much larger scale.