Meghan leads tributes to Gloria Steinem, admits she turned to icon ‘during hard times’

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex shared a number of photos together with Gloria Steinem on social media, hours after news of the feminist icon’s death was announced.

It marked the mum-of-two’s first Instagram post since her move to the UK with Prince Harry, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Following years of public scrutiny, Meghan and Harry stepped back from their lives as senior working royals and moved to the US in 2020.

After their move to California, the duchess admitted she turned to Steinem for help and advice over the years.

“Privately, she was even better than you would imagine - spending Thanksgiving with our family, introducing me to one of my best friends (forever the champion of female friendship), loving our children with her whole heart, counselling me during hard times, and giving extraordinary advice and perspective with a cup of tea and an unrivalled cheekiness and wit,” Meghan wrote.

The Duchess of Sussex also revealed a gift she received from Steinem, who died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

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“‘We are linked, not ranked’ she would tell me, and the bracelet she gave me said exactly that. I still wear it with pride,” she wrote.

The pair, who “did interviews together, called young voters to encourage them to have their voices heard, attended award ceremonies”, famously filmed a chat about politics in a Montecito backyard in August 2020 - one of Meghan’s first big interviews after the US move.

Steinem is being remembered for her involvement in the fight for women’s equal legal rights in the US, with the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

“Rest in peace, and rest in pride. Look at what you’ve done for all of us. Thank you,” Meghan wrote.

The sentiment was echoed by former first lady Dr Jill Biden, who wrote a joint social media post with husband and former president Joe Biden.

“Gloria Steinem understood that women’s equality begins with the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies, health, and futures,” they wrote.

“For decades, she fought to make that freedom real for generations of women and girls. She spoke up when it was difficult, listened to those whose voices too often went unheard, and never stopped pushing our country forward.”

Similarly, former first lady-turned-senator Hillary Clinton praised Steinem for pushing “open doors not just for herself, but for literally millions of women behind her”.

"Gloria Steinem was, at heart, an optimist," Clinton wrote alongside a photo of them together.

“Her activism was rooted in optimism, and that’s a moral choice she made every day.”

Oprah Winfrey also said in her social media tribute that women across the globe owe a debt of gratitude to the trailblazer.

She challenged a culture that often told us who we could be, what we could do, and how much space we were allowed to take up—and then spent her life making that space wider for all of us,” the media mogul wrote.

“Every woman who has ever walked into a room knowing she belongs there; every woman who has demanded equal pay, equal respect, ownership of her own body, and the right to make her own choices; every girl who has grown up assuming that her dreams are hers to pursue — whether she knows Gloria Steinem’s name or not — is living, in some measure, inside the progress Gloria helped create.

“She leaves us with more freedom than she inherited and with the responsibility to keep widening that freedom for the women and girls who come next.” 

Australian actress Naomi Watts also took to social media, sharing photos and memories of moments shared with the feminist icon.

“Whether it was turning pages of your books, watching you speak, or being lucky enough to sit in a circle in your living room where so many people have congregated and shared truths and exchanged ideas… I feel immense gratitude,” Watts wrote.

“Your legacy lives in every woman who speaks up, takes up space, chooses her own path, and believes she doesn’t have to ask permission to become who she is.

“I’m deeply grateful to have known you. Even just a little bit.”

Brooke Shields said her "heart hurts to say goodbye" in a tribute to her good friend.

"It was a huge blessing in my life to know you, to ruminate with you, to make you laugh, and to call you a friend," the actress wrote.

"To honour you, may we all continue to fight for change … your impact and legacy will live on forever in all our hearts."

Actress and activist Jameela Jamil also shared memories of her time with Steinem.

“Two months ago I got a letter from Gloria asking me to come over to her apartment by myself,” she began.

“She said she had been thinking about our adventures together over the years. I had a sinking intuition that this may be my last time, so I moved some flights around to make it happen.“

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Jamil labelled the journalist and activist “a guiding light for me”.

“She supported and encouraged me from the very first time she saw me give a speech about feminism. (I was so nervous knowing she was there, I was shaking throughout.),” she wrote.

“She was an example to me of never being afraid to make people uncomfortable, in pursuit of the truth.

“I am so grateful to her for everything she has done. I am so grateful I was able to see her one last time. I am so grateful she was in my life and I was allowed to sit and pick her brain and hear her stories up close.”

Actress Julianne Moore, who played Steinem in 2020’s The Glorias, shared a tribute.

"We were so lucky," Moore wrote on social media.

"The time I spent studying Gloria Steinem in order to play her was one of the most edifying of my life."

Actress Amy Schumer also praised Steinem in a social media tribute.

“Walked the walk to her last day,” she wrote. “Love to the coven of women who cared for her.”

Rita Wilson echoed a similar sentiment in her tribute.

“I am grateful for all she did, her love of women and her unwavering commitment to giving women voice and creating lasting change,” the actress and producer wrote.

“May her memory be eternal.”

Melinda French Gates told followers on social media “what a debt we owe” to Steinem.

“Generational change doesn’t happen by accident or fate — it takes leaders like Gloria Steinem who work hand in hand with so many others to build a lasting movement,” she wrote.

“The decades of energy, brilliance, and advocacy she devoted to women’s rights helped so many of us see that we belonged at the tables where decisions are made. … What a light she was for me and so many others.”

Steinem died peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by loved ones, with her death announced on Thursday in a social media post.