Meghan in good spirits at One Young World Summit

The Duchess of Sussex was all smiles on her first public appearance since revealing the difficulties she has faced over the past year as a royal.

Meghan, 38, appeared in good spirits as she attended the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The four-day event, described as a “global forum for young leaders”, brings together 2,000 young people from more than 190 countries.

US-born former actress Meghan received the loudest cheer during the opening ceremony as she walked through the audience to join dozens of other One Young World counsellors – including Bob Geldof – on stage.

She wore a long purple Aritzia dress for the event, during which she was described as a “global champion for the rights of women and girls”.

The duchess was last seen in public wearing the dress while she was pregnant with Archie during a visit to Birkenhead in January this year.

On stage, Meghan clapped and smiled throughout the flag ceremony.

She was sat next to Nobel Peace Prize recipient Professor Muhammad Yunus for the event.

Her appearance at the summit comes just days after she appeared in the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, where she described her past year as a member of the royal family as “hard”.

Meghan said she tried to cope with the pressures of her new life since marrying the Duke of Sussex in May 2018 by putting on a “stiff upper lip”.

But she said she was not prepared for the intensity of the tabloid interest.

London mayor Sadiq Khan, actor Warwick Davies and One Young World co-founders Kate Robertson and Dave Jones were among the speakers during the summit opening.

Mr Khan said: “When it comes to tackling the defining challenges of our time, we achieve more together than we do alone.

“This is the main message I want to send to you this evening. Shamefully there are some politicians who wish to absolve themselves from their positions of responsibility.”

According to the One Young World website, Meghan is a “long-standing supporter” of the organisation, having joined as a counsellor at the 2014 summit in Dublin.

Her appearance at the summit comes after a source close to the couple told CNN the reaction to Prince Harry’s comments on the ITV documentary about being on a “different path” to his brother had been “hysterical”.

The source said Harry and Meghan had “single-handedly modernised the monarchy” and added the couple were surrounded by people “afraid of and inexperienced” at how best to “deploy their value”.

It came after a royal source said William was concerned about his brother and hoped Harry and Meghan were “all right” after the screening of the ITV programme in which they opened up about their struggles.

The source told the BBC there was a view from The Queen and other senior royals that the couple were “in a fragile place”.