Meghan Markle was seen enjoying time in New York with a longtime friend, known for their strong connection built on a mutual dedication to liberal politics and women’s advocacy in the U.S.

The 43-year-old Duchess of Sussex appeared stunning in a stone-colored trench coat, complemented by a £525 adjustable Gancini belt and fashionable dark sunglasses, after her visit with Gloria Steinem.

Accompanied by her personal bodyguard, Meghan shared a smile with him as he opened the door to her 6.8-liter, fuel-consuming Cadillac Escalade SUV.

She was without Prince Harry on the trip – shortly after the Sussexes’ were crowned Humanitarians of the Year at a gala in the city last week. 

Gloria had previously honored Meghan with a ‘Women of Vision’ award in 2023, praising her as an ‘excellent human being’ with intelligence, humor, and commitment to social causes.

Meghan and ‘Glo’, a nickname Meghan uses for the activist, developed a strong rapport in 2020 due to their collective focus on advocating for women’s rights and promoting equal voting rights, particularly ahead of the Presidential Election that year.

The duo also participated in a shared interview with Vogue US following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, heightening concerns over women’s abortion rights across the U.S.

In recent times, Steinem, best known for her role within the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, has been full of praise for the Duchess, telling Access in 2020 that Meghan was ‘smart, authentic, funny, political’ and claiming: ‘She came home to vote.’

Meghan and Gloria’s friendship blossomed when the pair sat down together to film a video on the Makers Women channel in 2020, discussing women’s rights and voting rights after learning they only lived 45 minutes away.

The pair’s friendship appears to have gone from strength to strength since then, with Meghan warmly embracing the activist in a recent Instagram post.

In 2022 Meghan appeared to distance herself from the Netflix docu-series with Harry that caused such stir in the UK, especially with the King and Prince William.

The Duchess of Sussex suggested left-wing film maker Gloria had taken the lead she said: ‘It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it’.

She also revealed that she spent time with Gloria before the explosive Oprah interview aired on TV.

‘Even before the interview, I hadn’t been out because I was so pregnant. The one thing I really remember was Gloria Steinem’s birthday, a few days after it aired. I really wanted to celebrate her at what I thought was just going to be a small and intimate birthday lunch’, she said.

‘I envisioned it being us eating sandwiches in this cottage she was staying at. Instead, it was an extravaganza — by the way, as she deserves. But I hadn’t really seen people in a long time, and the interview had come out maybe a week before. Walking into a room alone is never easy for me, and I remember feeling a bit uncomfortable. But before I could let my uncertainty linger, Pamela Adlon came up to me and greeted me with such warmth and kindness. She toured me around the room, and at every turn, more generosity and love was felt. Maybe it’s just a testament to the kind of company Glo keeps, but I also think these women were extraordinary to ensure I felt so welcomed. It’s like they knew exactly what I needed to feel in that moment. It meant, and still means, so very much to me. The power of sisterhood and female support can never be underestimated.’

Meghan and Gloria spoke in camera post-Megxit.

As the duo sat on wooden chairs in the garden during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Gloria opened the conversation by telling her pal: ‘Welcome home.’

The Duchess responded that she was pleased to be back in the US ‘for so many reasons’. 

When the conversation kicked off, Meghan praised Gloria for her decades of work in advancing women’s rights, saying that ‘people forget’ the amount of hard work activists like Gloria put in to improve the lives of future generations of women.

At one point, the pair were even joined by Meghan’s beloved dogs, black Labrador Pula, and rescue beagle Guy, who happily wandered into the camera shot during the chat, and lay down at the Duchess’s feet while she continued chatting with Gloria. 

‘[The dog] wants to be on camera,’ Gloria joked while gesturing at Pula, who Meghan and Harry adopted together in 2018, shortly after they tied the knot. The Duchess of Sussex rescued Guy the beagle before she met Prince Harry and moved the pup to London with her back in 2017, leaving her other rescue dog – Bogart – behind.

The black-and-white clip – which was shot by filmmaker and photographer Matt Sayles – shows the two women sitting in the shade of a large tree, with a wooden table placed between their chairs, which appeared to have been spaced in order to comply with social distancing regulations.

She also made no attempt to hide her admiration for Gloria, gushing happily about how ‘great’ it was to be chatting with the famed feminist.

‘Today is a pretty great day, for me it’s a pretty great day,’ Meghan said to the activist, who shared her opinions about the 2020 election – and the importance of each and every vote – with the Duchess.

At the end of the chat, Gloria gifted Meghan with a bracelet which was engraved with the words: ‘We are linked, not ranked.’ Upon receiving it, Meghan said it ‘means everything to me on every level’.

While sharing the clip on Instagram, Makers Women described the conversation between the two women as a ‘historic backyard chat’, while sharing a few details about what Gloria and Meghan discussed.

During the interview, the Duchess called on men to be more vocal about their anger at the decision in order to add their voices to the growing number of women who objected to the Supreme Court’s move. Meghan also revealed that Harry had been devastated by the decision.

‘They may target women, but the consequences impact all of us,’ she said.

‘My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. He’s a feminist too.’

Gloria confirmed Harry was indeed an advocate for women’s rights and referred to the Duke and Duchess as ‘chosen family’.

Steinem told Vogue that Meghan and Harry speaking out about the issue was vital.

‘It’s very, very, very important,’ she said.

‘Because what they both have is trust. We trust them and nothing but nothing replaces trust. It is the most important quality or attribute. We can see things on television and not believe them or not trust them.

‘But when people like these two tell us, then we trust it.’

A few weeks after the interview, Meghan and Gloria were spotted arm in arm as they left the swanky Crosby Hotel in Soho, New York after having lunch together.

As they said goodbye before Gloria hopped in a taxi, they shared a hug.

The political activist recruited Meghan in her fight to get Congress to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment – a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. 

Speaking to People, just weeks before the Duke and Duchess’s $100 million Netflix docuseries landed, Gloria said of Meghan: ‘I’m not an expert on the media, but it seems to me that she is different from the picture of her in the media.