Meghan Markle hopes her speech to pupils at her old school addressing racial division gave them 'comfort and inspiration' and says her 'heart hurts for those graduating into a world of uncertainty and injustice', source tells Hello!

• Protests over death of George Floyd 'raised a lot of emotion' for the Duchess
• Source says she couldn't do speech without addressing racism that 'plagues US'
• Meghan has opened up in the past about how racism has affected her own family

Meghan Markle's heart 'hurts' for young people graduating into a world of 'uncertainty and injustice' and she hopes her impassioned speech to pupils at her old school addressing racial division gave them 'hope, comfort and inspiration', according to a report.

The Duchess of Sussex broke her silence on the murder of George Floyd and gave her support to the Black Lives Matter protests in the US last week during an address to graduating students at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles.

She revealed she had not spoken about the death of the 46-year-old black man, who died after white police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes, before because she had been 'nervous'. 

A source told Hello! magazine that the situation 'raised a lot of emotion' for Meghan, 38, who has opened up in the past about how racism has affected her own family.

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The Duchess of Sussex broke her silence on the murder of George Floyd last week, declaring that 'black lives matter' and revealed that she had not spoken about his death before because she had been 'nervous'. Meghan, 38, gave an address to graduating pupils at her old school, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles (pictured)

'Meghan was excited to be part of the IHHS graduation ceremony, but, after this week, knew there was no way she could speak to a group of compassionate, service-driven young women without addressing George Floyd and the racism that plagues this country,' they said.

'Her heart hurts for the young people that are graduating into a world of uncertainty and injustice. She hopes her words provided a small bit of hope, comfort or inspiration to the school community she cares about so deeply.'

In her poignant six-minute virtual speech delivered to pupils at her former school, Meghan said: 'George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered.'  

The other three people Meghan mentioned were African Americans killed by US police over the past six years. 

The Duchess also referred to Los Angeles as the family's 'home town' after moving there with Harry and their son Archie, one.

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According to the source, Meghan was 'excited to be part of the IHHS graduation ceremony, but, after this week, knew there was no way she could speak to a group of compassionate, service-driven young women without addressing George Floyd and the racism that plagues [the US]'

On speaking out about Mr Floyd, she said: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.'

The video was released to black women's lifestyle magazine Essence, which published it on its website saying 'courtesy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex'.

The Duchess also said how the students are 'going to have empathy for those who don't see the world through the same lens that you do', adding: 'With as diverse, vibrant and opened-minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter.'

Meghan also referred to some advice she was given by a teacher aged 15, saying: 'I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, "always remember to put other's needs above your own fears".

'And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.'

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On speaking out about Mr Floyd, Meghan (pictured in South Africa in September) said: 'I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing'

Meghan was referring to her former theology teacher, Maria Pollia, who has previously described her as a 'remarkable student' who was 'very enthusiastic about the material, but always took it a step further'.

Meghan also spoke to the students about their futures, saying: 'You know that you're going to rebuild, rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. 

'Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice.'

Her speech left some Immaculate Heart students in tears, with one on Twitter with the user name 'blm • gia' saying: 'Meghan Markle talking about George Floyd and BLM in my virtual graduation. I'm crying.' 

Yesterday it emerged Harry and Meghan have been 'quietly' having meetings with key people and organisations linked to the Black Lives Matter movement to 'educate' themselves. 

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Meghan mentioned three other people who were killed by US police over the past six years during her speech to pupils at her old school. She also referred to Los Angeles as the family's 'home town' after moving there with Harry and their son Archie, one (pictured together in South Africa in September)

According to a source, the couple have been having 'private conversations' with people 'on all levels' to ensure they are 'connected to the issues of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement'. 

They told Harper's Bazaar's royal editor Omid Scobie: 'Harry and Meghan have been having private conversations with community leaders and people at every level, to ensure that they understand current events.

'This is something that is incredibly personal to Meghan, especially given everything she has experienced. And as a couple, it is, of course, very important. They are both feeling it, just like the rest of us.'   

Meghan has previously described the experiences of both her mother and grandfather, and her own journey as a biracial woman. 

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Protests have taken place across America and beyond after white police officer Derek Chauvin (seen right) knelt on unarmed George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds last week, despite Floyd's desperate repeated pleas for help crying, 'I can't breathe'. Floyd (left and right) passed out and later died

The former Suits star became the first mixed-race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal, in 2018.

But Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit as senior working royals in March to pursue personal and financial freedom in the US, after telling of their struggles dealing with their royal life and the intense media interest.

The American ex-actress recounted, before marrying into the Windsor family, how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for 'coloureds' and eat the chicken in the car park.

'That story still haunts me,' she wrote. 'It reminds me of how young our country is. How far we've come and how far we still have to come.'

An old clip of Meghan filmed as part of the 'I Won't Stand For...' campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate, has come to light following the recent protests. In the video, Meghan shared her hope that society will become more 'open-minded'

Meghan, whose father Thomas Markle is Caucasian and mother Doria Ragland is African-American, wrote of her background: 'While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that.

'To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.'

In a piece for Elle Magazine in 2015, she said she witnessed her mother being called 'the n word' by another driver in Los Angeles and described the heartache it caused.

'My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom. Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: 'It's OK, Mommy',' she wrote.

Meghan also described how her great-great-great-grandfather went on to create his own identity when freed from slavery. 

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The Duchess has opened up in the past about how racism has affected her own family. She is pictured as a young girl with her father Thomas Markle

'Because in 1865 (which is so shatteringly recent), when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose a name. A surname, to be exact,' she wrote.

'Perhaps the closest thing to connecting me to my ever-complex family tree, my longing to know where I come from and the commonality that links me to my bloodline, is the choice that my great-great-great grandfather made to start anew.

'He chose the last name Wisdom.'

As a child, her father, from whom she is now estranged, created a Barbie family for Christmas when they were only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls.

She wrote on her lifestyle blog how her new collection had 'a black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each colour. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.'

'I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present': Meghan's full speech to students

'Immaculate Heart High School, the graduating class of 2020. For the past couple of weeks I've been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation.

'And as we've all seen over the last week what is happening in our country and in our state and in our home town of LA has been absolutely devastating.

'And I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn't or that it would get picked apart.

'And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered, and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know. Stephon Clark, his life mattered.

'And I was thinking about this moment when I was a sophomore in high school, I was 15, and as you know sophomore year is the year we do volunteer work, which is a prerequisite for graduating.

'And I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms Pollia, said to me as I was leaving for a day of volunteering, 'always remember to put other's needs above your own fears'.

'And that has stuck with me throughout my entire life and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.

'So the first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present.'

'I was 11 or 12 years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart Middle School in the fall, and it was the LA Riots, which was also triggered by senseless act of racism.

'And I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home, seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting.

'And I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up at the house and seeing the tree, that had always been there, completely charred. And those memories don't go away.

'And I can't imagine that at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience. That's something that you should have an understanding of, but an understanding of as a history lesson, not as your reality.

'So I am sorry in a way that we have not gotten the world to a place where you deserve it to be.

'The other thing though that I do remember about that time was how people came together, and we are seeing that right now. We are seeing that from the sheriff in Michigan or the police chief in Virginia. 

'We are seeing people stand in solidarity, we are seeing communities come together and to uplift. And you are going to be part of this movement.

'I know that this is not the graduation that you envisioned and this is not the celebration that you imagined. 

'But I also know that there's a way for us to reframe this for you to not see this as the end of something but instead to see this as the beginning of you harnessing all the work, all of the values, all of the skills that you have embodied over the last four years – and now you channel that.

'Now all of that work gets activated. Now you get to be part of rebuilding. And I know that sometimes people say how many times do we need to rebuild? 

'But you know that you're going to rebuild, rebuild and rebuilt until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice.

You're going to use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to because most of you are 18 – or you're going to turn 18 — so you're going to vote. 

'You are going to have empathy for those who don't see the world through the same lens that you do, because with as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter. So I am already excited for what you're going to do in the world. 

'You are equipped, you are ready, we need you and you are prepared. I am so proud to call each of you a fellow alumni, and I'm so eager to see what you're going to do. 

'Please know that I am cheering you on all along the way, I am exceptionally proud of you, and I'm wishing you a huge congratulations on today, the start of all the impact you're going to make in the world as leaders that we all so deeply crave. Congratulations ladies, and thank you in advance.'