The Duchess of Sussex considers paid family leave to be a “humanitarian issue”.
The 40-year-old Duchess – who has Archie, two, and Lilibet, five months, with her husband Prince Harry – discussed the subject during the New York Times DealBook summit, insisting that campaigning for paid family leave for all Americans wasn’t a political issue.
Speaking to Andrew Sorkin in New York City, she explained: “I don’t see this as a political issue, frankly. There is a precedent among my husband’s family, the royal family, of not having any involvement in politics. From my standpoint, this is a humanitarian issue.
“My husband has always said with great privilege comes great responsibility and before I had any kind of privilege, I always stood up for what was right. I’ve been gone from the US for a really long time, I was in Canada for seven years then I went to the UK. I’ve come back and I’m a mother of two.
“The US is one of only six countries in the world that didn’t offer any kind of paid national level. I said, ‘let me put pen to paper and make some calls.’ To me it seems like a really logical and obvious thing to do.”
The former ‘Suits’ actress – who married Prince Harry in 2018 – noted that lawmakers are often “surprised” to hear from her.
However, she also thinks they’ve been receptive towards her.
The Duchess said: “I introduce myself – these calls are not planned calls, right – I just get the phone number and I call. Yes, people are pretty surprised, I think. This is one of those issues that’s not red or blue, we can all agree that people need support.”
She also insisted that fame and success hasn’t altered her outlook.
She shared: “I still see myself as the same as I have always been. I’ve always been a hard worker, people that know me well some of whom are here today know that, I’ve just always been the same.
“If you are grounded in who you are … I show up in the same way that I always have.”