“Meghan Markle Adjusts Fan at Panel: ‘That’s What We Do as Women'”

The Duchess of Sussex’s unexpected moment was met with laughs and applause

Meghan Markle put the concept of “women helping women” into action with a small, unexpected gesture during her visit to Colombia with Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, joined a panel dedicated to highlighting and uplifting Afro-Colombian women on Aug. 18. At one point during the discussion, Meghan stood up and walked to the side of the stage, where she adjusted a fan to face the panelists, as seen in a video of the event.

Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez, who was on stage with Meghan, started applauding and the other panelists laughed as they realized what she was doing.

As she returned to her seat, Meghan said in Spanish, “Women helping women.”

A fellow panelist replied in Spanish, “Well done, thank you. And what’s more, [women] resolving the situation, thank you so much.”

A few moments later, Meghan connected the move to how making women feel comfortable can inspire them be their best selves.

“You see something wrong, you go to fix it. Maybe that’s just a very female thing — whether it’s a fan or something else,” she said. “That’s what we do, right, as women — we’re multitaskers, and we are fixers.”

Meghan’s helpful gesture of fixing the fan was just one of the times during their Colombia visit that she showed her Spanish-speaking skills. She kicked off her portion of the discussion by removing an earpiece used for translation assistance and speaking in Spanish to the audience. According to sussex.com, she expressed “her deep appreciation for the Colombian hospitality. She praised the culture and history of the country, describing the visit as a dream and highlighting the strong sense of community she felt.”

When she finished her remarks, the Duchess of Sussex mimed wiping sweat from her forehead and let out a “phew” to applause from the crowd.