The Duchess of Sussex honoured Francia Marquez, Colombia’s first Black vice-president.

Meghan Markle is expressing a sense of relief and empowerment that comes from feeling accepted and valued in her authentic self.

During a panel discussion at the Afro Women and Power Conference in Cali, Colombia, on Sunday afternoon, the Duchess of Sussex honoured Francia Marquez, Colombia’s first Black vice-president, and expressed how being in Colombia made her feel at ease and truly comfortable in her own skin, reported Mirror.

She said: “Thank you very much to the Vice President, my friend, many thanks. Of leadership, having examples, as you do with your vice president. We all know how much representation matters.

“We all know that if you see someone who looks like you, talks like you, comes from a community like yours, that you can believe it’s possible to also be in a similar position of power. So you’re not underestimating yourself, you’re not underestimating your worth. You’re not underestimating your future.

She said: “I’m just really relaxed on this trip. That’s probably because it’s Columbia, and you all know how to have fun, but there’s been something really that’s true, there’s something so liberating about being able to be yourself and be comfortable in your skin and be surrounded in a space that is excited to see you exactly the way that you are.

Meanwhile, Meghan also paid tribute to her beloved husband Prince Harry and mother, Doria.

Discussing Harry, 39, who later joined her on stage as they held hands affectionately, Meghan, 43, shared.

“Yes, we work incredibly well together as a team, but as my husband is great testament to, the role of men in this of empowering women, of allowing them to know that their voices are heard, starting at a young age all the way through adulthood, is key. For us and the work that we do with our Archewell Foundation, certainly the work that we do as parents, as I do as a mother, is ensuring that young girls feel as though their voices are being heard.

It comes after Meghan shared shocking details in much-hyped interview with Oprah Winfrey, revealing the British royal family refused to make her son Archie a prince partly due to conversations about how dark his skin might be.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed that Archie’s skin colour sparked concerns before he was born.

“They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” Meghan said in an interview aired on CBS.

“In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, you won’t be given security, not gonna be given a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”