メーガン妃、４０歳に　女性の復職支援を呼び掛け

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】英王室を離脱したヘンリー王子の妻メーガン妃が４日、４０歳の誕生日を迎えた。これに合わせて公開された動画でメーガン妃は、新型コロナウイルスの流行後に女性たちが復職できるよう、著名人の友人らに支援を呼び掛けた。（写真は英ヘンリー王子の妻メーガン妃）
　２分間の動画でメーガン妃は、女優のメリッサ・マッカーシーさんとビデオ通話をしている。その中でメーガン妃は「４０歳になるのにちなんで、友人４０人に、仕事への復帰を目指す女性への助言に協力してもらうため、４０分時間を割いてほしいと頼んでいる」と語った。
　各国政府が新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大に歯止めをかけようとする中、世界では数百万人が休業などにより職を失った。
　メーガン妃は「私たちみんなが協力し、全員が奉仕活動などに４０分を費やせば、その輪が広がる」と述べた。
　メーガン妃がマッカーシーさんとタトゥーやヨットパーティーについて冗談を交わす後ろで、ジャグリングをするヘンリー王子の姿が映る場面もあった。
　ヘンリー王子夫妻は現在、米国で最も裕福な著名人らも住むカリフォルニア州の高級住宅街に暮らしており、英王室の外でキャリアを築いている。
　数週間前にはヘンリー王子が「私の人生について正確に記し、すべて真実に基づいた」回顧録の執筆を進めていることが発表された。
　メーガン妃は２か月前に、第２子となるリリベット・ダイアナちゃんを出産したばかり。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/06-14:06）

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, marked her 40th birthday Wednesday with a video asking celebrity friends to help women get back to work after the pandemic.
The two-minute turn shows the wife of Britain's Prince Harry joking with actress Melissa McCarthy, and comes two months after she gave birth to the couple's second child, Lilibet.
Because I'm turning 40, I'm asking 40 friends to donate 40 minutes of their time to help mentor a woman who is mobilizing back into the workforce, says the Duchess.
Millions of people around the world have lost their jobs in shutdowns sparked by Covid-19, as governments try to tamp down the spread of the disease.
I think if we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to some sort of act of service, it will create a ripple effect, she adds.
Harry, whose criticism of his family and step away from official royal work has provided fodder for Britain's tabloid press, is seen juggling in the background as Markle and McCarthy joke about tattoos and yacht parties.
The couple, who now live in a plush part of California alongside some of the United States's wealthiest celebrities, are forging careers outside the British royal family.
Their ventures include the Archewell organization that released the slick video.
Meghan and Harry, 36, sat in March for a bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, triggering the royal family's biggest crisis in decades.
During the two-hour sit-down, viewed by more than 17 million people in the US and over 11 million in Britain, Harry and Meghan said racism had played a part in their departure from Britain.
They said a senior royal had speculated how dark their child's skin would be before he was born. Meghan is biracial; her mother is Black and her father is white.
Their first child Archie is now two. Lilibet Diana -- named for Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and his late mother -- was born in early June.
Markle's video comes weeks after it was announced that Harry will pen an autobiography that he pledged would be a firsthand account of my life that's accurate and wholly truthful.