Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Donated to a Female Education Charity to Celebrate Their Birthdays

Fans of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been donating in honor of their recent birthdays to CAMFED, and the Sussexes just matched their donations.

  • Fans of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry—the #SussexSquad—have been donating in honor of their recent birthdays to CAMFED, a nonprofit which supports the education of young women and girls across Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.
  • On Harry's birthday, September 15, the Sussexes announced they would match their fans' donations and give $130,000 to CAMFED.
  • "No better way to celebrate what really matters. Thank you to everyone who donated!" Meghan and Harry said.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry celebrated their recent birthdays in an extremely lovely way—by making a huge $130,000 donation to the nonprofit CAMFED, which supports the education of young women and girls across Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania. The Sussexes matched the contributions of their fanbase, the Sussex Squad, who started a fundraising campaign titled "#InspiredByMeghan #InspiredByHarry" to celebrate Meghan's 39th birthday on August 4th and Harry's 36th on September 15.

In a statement about their donation, Meghan and Harry said, "No better way to celebrate what really matters. Thank you to everyone who donated!" According to the CAMFED website, the campaign has now raised £202,145 (about $262,000), which is "enough to support 113 young African women through a whole year
of technical & vocational training."

Angie Murimirwa, CAMFED's executive director for Africa, said in a video message to the Sussex Squad, "Your gift can help us get many more high school graduates to training colleges. In turn we, their sisters in the CAMFED Association, will make sure that they have the support they need to do well when they get there. Support to make sure they overcome the disadvantages they face as girls from marginalized rural areas. As engineers, bricklayers, climate-smart farmers, vets, and nurses, my sisters will be even more powerful role models in their communities: working together to change the status of women, showing what an education can achieve, and using their profits to send more girls through school."

A statement from the "global Sussex Squad" on the CAMFED website reads, "One of the great things about being fans of Harry and Meghan is never being at a loss for inspiration to celebrate them in purposeful and meaningful ways. Fundamental to their appeal is how earnestly they carry out their humanitarian work, serving and embracing young leaders around the world, who, as they flourish, make sure that no one in their communities is left behind."

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.