Gloria Steinem’s Death Draws Public Tributes and a Personal Farewell From Meghan
Gloria Steinem’s Death Draws Public Tributes and a Personal Farewell From Meghan
The responses to Gloria Steinem’s death have framed her in two closely linked ways: as a national figure in the fight for women’s equality and as a mentor whose influence was felt in private as much as in public.
Steinem, the writer and activist who became one of the most recognisable voices of US feminism, has died at 92 at her New York home. The immediate tributes have focused on the scale of her political legacy, while Meghan Markle’s message centred on the friendship behind the public record.
Hillary Clinton described Steinem as “one of the architects of the entire structure of women’s equality,” recalling an activist whose message made the barriers facing women impossible to overlook. Clinton also stressed Steinem’s outlook amid what she called renewed challenges to full participation and equality, saying her activism “was rooted in optimism.”
That public assessment is supported by Steinem’s long record as a journalist, organiser and campaigner. Her undercover reporting on conditions for Playboy club workers helped establish her national profile; she later co-founded Ms. magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus, and campaigned on civil rights, reproductive freedom and women’s political representation. She remained committed to those causes across decades, even as the women’s movement contained competing ideas about leadership and strategy.
Meghan’s tribute did not dispute that political legacy, but offered a more personal account of it. Calling Steinem her “friend and mentor,” the Duchess said they worked together publicly to encourage young voters and discuss a more equitable world. Privately, she wrote, Steinem spent holidays with her family, offered advice in difficult moments and loved Meghan’s children “with her whole heart.”
Her post included a previously unseen photograph of Steinem with Prince Archie and recalled advice Steinem gave about self-belief: “It doesn’t matter if she knows who I am. What matters is that she knows who SHE is.” Together, the tributes portray a figure remembered not only for changing institutions, but for urging individuals to recognise their own agency.
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