Meghan Markle says 'George Floyd's life mattered' in speech on US protests at her former school in LA and waited until now because she 'wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous'

• Duchess of Sussex gave virtual address to graduating pupils at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles
• Meghan, who attended the school from the age of 11 to 18, said she had been 'wrong' to wait to speak out
• The 38-year-old former actress also named other African Americans killed in US by police in recent years
• Meghan made speech yesterday then the video was released to black women's lifestyle magazine Essence

Meghan Markle has today broken her silence on the murder of George Floyd, declaring that 'black lives matter' and admitted it had been 'wrong' for her to wait more than a week to speak out about his death.

The Duchess of Sussex gave an address to graduating pupils at her old school, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, where she also named other African Americans who were killed in the US by police in recent years.

The 38-year-old former actress, who attended the school from the age of 11 to 18, said: 'George Floyd's life mattered and Breonna Taylor's life mattered and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered'. 

Meghan, who referred to Los Angeles as the family's 'home town' after moving there with husband Prince Harry, and their son Archie, had been criticised for not speaking out about Mr Floyd's death in Minneapolis ten days ago.

She admitted this was a mistake, saying: '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 made the six-minute virtual speech yesterday before the video was released to black women's lifestyle magazine Essence, which published it on its website today saying 'courtesy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex'. 

It comes as demonstrations continue to build around the world after Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes. 

Meghan Markle has given a video address to her old school in Los Angeles in which she talked about George Floyd's murder

Meghan said she remembered the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (above) which happened when she was growing up in the city

During the video, Meghan also said there were many others killed by police who would never have been named.  She said: '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'.

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.'

The former Suits star told students that she had been about to start secondary school when the Los Angeles riots began in the spring of 1992 after the brutal beating of Rodney King.

She said: '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.' 

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.' 

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.' 

Meghan and Harry had been maintaining a low profile on social media during the Black Lives Matter protests - and stayed offline during Black Out Tuesday this week on their Sussex Royal Instagram page. 

The royal couple have stayed silent on social media over the past two months, with their last Instagram post on March 30.

However, the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which is overseen by the Queen, Harry and Meghan, shared on Instagram and Twitter a Martin Luther King Jr quote, saying 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'  

It comes as an old clip of Meghan, now 38, filmed as part of the 'I Won't Stand For...' campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate, has gone viral in light of the recent protests.

Meghan, who had not yet met Harry when she taped the video, shared her hope that society will become more 'open-minded' and learn to see the beauty in a 'mixed world'.  

'I know you know that black lives matter': What Meghan told the students for graduation speech

On Black Lives Matter: 'With as diverse, vibrant and opened minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter'

On the 1992 Los Angeles riots: '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'

On waiting to speak out: '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'

On African Americans killed by police: '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'

On what her teacher once told her: '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'

On people coming together: '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.

Immaculate Heart High School (file picture) is a private Roman Catholic school in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles

Immaculate Heart High School is a private Roman Catholic school in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, where Meghan studied from the age of 11 to 18.

How the 1992 LA riots left 59 dead after police were filmed beating up black motorist Rodney King

From April 30 to May 1, 1992, a series of devastating riots erupted in Los Angeles, with a toll of at least 59 dead and more than 2,300 injured. 

The violence was set off by the acquittal of four white police officers who were filmed beating up a black motorist called Rodney King in March 1991. 

Thousands of people flooded the streets looting, committing arson, robbing and attacking people at random. Helicopters captured many of the attacks and broadcast them on live television. 

Violence also broke out in Atlanta, California, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and San Jose. 

The Duchess was voted as the school president - the equivalent of a head girl in Britain - and was also made homecoming queen.

More recently, pupils at the school gathered at 3am on May 19, 2018 to watch the royal wedding.

Meghan went on to Northwestern University in Illinois and rose to fame in 2010 as the sassy Rachel Zane in the popular American legal drama series Suits.

However, she left the show and her acting career to concentrate on her charity projects and to marry Prince Harry.

Even though Harry stepped down from royal duties on March 31, he is still technically a member of the Royal Family - and is therefore expected to remain strictly neutral on political matters and avoid airing his views in public.

However he risked a diplomatic row in March after accusing Donald Trump of having 'blood on his hands' during a hoax phone call with Russian pranksters.

And Meghan's father Thomas Markle revealed last June that Harry told him he was 'open to the experiment' of Brexit after they had a conversation about it.

'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.'