Kelly Rowland stated that meeting Meghan Markle was a pleasure.
The 42-year-old singer spoke up about meeting the Duchess of Sussex during Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour event in Los Angeles on September 4 (the performer’s birthday!). Meghan attended her second Beyoncé performance in four days, shimmering in a silver skirt and posing for a photo with Rowland and Kerry Washington.
“It was my first meeting with her.” It was just nice to be there with other great women and be able to just talk,” the Destiny’s Child star told Hello! during a WaterWipes event in Brooklyn over the weekend.
“I’m not sure what people expect to see or know, but she just seemed very cool and down to earth.” “She’s very warm,” Rowland said.
The “Motivation” singer also made a reference to the British royal family, which the former Suits actor joined after marrying Prince Harry in 2018. The pair left their royal duties in 2020 and moved to Meghan’s home state of California, where they live with their son Prince Archie, 4, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 2.
“She was a royal before she married into that family.” Before anything else, I believe we are royalty. And as humans, as people, we must view ourselves in that respect,” Rowland remarked.
In addition to the birthday performance, the Duchess of Sussex, 42, was present for Beyoncé’s first Los Angeles gig of the Renaissance World Tour on September 1 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles with her husband Harry and mother Doria Ragland. The three were sighted in a private box, as shown in a social media snapshot, and they were all dressed in silver! The 32-time Grammy winner had requested that her fans dress in “fabulous silver fashions to the shows 8.23–9.22” in celebration of her 42nd birthday on September 4.
While Harry looked on, Meghan and Doria were spotted beaming and dancing as they raised their arms in the air from a VIP box overlooking the stadium.
The Duchess of Sussex previously admitted to being a Beyoncé fan, identifying “Cozy” as her favorite song from the Renaissance album in her October 2022 Variety cover interview. She also revealed a sweet text from Beyoncé in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which premiered last December. In a clip from volume two, Meghan expressed her gratitude to the music icon for reaching out the day after her and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in March 2021.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were working side by side in their bright home office in Montecito, California, when Meghan exclaimed, “Beyoncé just texted,” and Prince Harry, 39, gasped theatrically.
“Just checking in,” Meghan responded, smiling as she read the note. “I still can’t believe she knows who I am!”
“Go ahead and call her,” Harry advised. “No, it’s okay,” his wife said. “She stated that she wanted me to feel safe and protected. She admires and appreciates my boldness and sensitivity, and she believes I was chosen to break generational curses that must be broken.”
“That’s well said,” commented Prince Harry.
During their wide-ranging interview with Oprah, which aired on CBS, the California couple discussed losing police protection, rising tensions with other members of the royal family, and the gender of their unborn child (daughter Lilibet was due in June). In one of the most surprising parts of the interview, Meghan said that she had suicidal thoughts and that there were “concerns and conversations within the royal family about how dark [their child’s] skin might be when he’s born.”
The “Single Ladies” singer paid tribute to the Duchess of Sussex on her website almost immediately after Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special aired.
“Thank you, Meghan, for your courage and leadership,” Beyoncé tweeted with a snapshot of the couple at The Lion King’s U.K. premiere almost two years prior. “We are all strengthened and inspired by you.”
When the two ladies met in July 2019 at the London premiere of the live-action remake of the Disney classic, in which the “Single Ladies” singer played Nala, they appeared to click.
Beyoncé was heard exclaiming, “My princess,” as she went in for an embrace with Meghan.