Meghan delivered a passionate speech on the importance of girls' education in Fiji today - explaining how scholarships helped her attend university. 
 
 The Duchess of Sussex, 37, gave her second speech as a member of the royal family while visiting the University of the South Pacific in Suva. 
 
 Addressing students, she explained how earnings from a job she had on campus at Northwestern University went 'directly towards my tuition'. 
 
 It comes after her father Thomas Markle has previously claimed in interviews that he paid for his daughter's education. 
 
 Meghan delivered a passionate speech on the importance of girls' education at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji today - explaining how scholarships helped her attend university 
 
 The Duchess of Sussex, 37, used notes as she gave her second speech as a member of the royal family while visiting the University of the South Pacific 
 
 Speaking in Fiji today, Meghan said: 'As a university graduate, I know the personal feeling of pride and excitement that comes with attending university. 
 
 'From the moment you receive your acceptance letter, to the exams you spend countless late nights studying for, the lifelong friendships you make with your fellow alumni, and the moment you receive your diploma.' 
 
 She continued: 'I am also fully aware of the challenges of being able to afford this level of schooling for many people around the world – myself included. 
 
 'It was through scholarships, financial aid programmes and work-study where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition - that I was able to attend university. And, without question, it was worth every effort.' 
 
 During her speech, Meghan explained how earnings from a job she had on campus at Northwestern University went 'directly towards my tuition' 
 
 The Duchess of Sussex said she was 'fully aware of the challenges of being able to afford this level of schooling for many people around the world' 
 
 Thomas Markle have previously spoken about how he paid for Meghan's $30,000 (£23,000)-a-year tuition at Northwestern University, Illinois, with $750,000 winnings from a lottery. 
 
 In an interview with the Daily Mail, he said: 'When Meghan was 11, she moved back in with me up until she was 17 and went to college. 
 
 'I was having my good years then, making good money, and could afford to give her the best, with a good school, good education, good home. She became the woman that she is today thanks to everything I did for her.' 
 
 Royal fans quickly took to Twitter to question whether Meghan's remarks were a reference to her father's claims that he paid for her education. 
 
 One wrote: 'Did Meghan just clap back to her Liar sister and disgraceful father in that speech without even mention their names?' 
 
 Meghan's father Thomas Markle (pictured with Meghan in her younger years) has previously claimed in interviews that he paid for his daughter's education 
 
 Social media users were quick to question whether Meghan's remarks were a reference to her father's claims that he paid for her education 
 
 Another added: 'She did just that. With such a talent and grace, too.' 
 
 Meghan went on to speak about the importance for girls to be able to access education around the world, explaining: 'Everyone should be afforded the opportunity to receive the education they want, but more importantly the education they have the right to receive. 
 
 'And for women and girls in developing countries, this is vital. Providing them with access to education is the key to economic and social development. 
 
 'Because when girls are given the right tools to succeed, they can create incredible futures, not only for themselves but also for those around them.' 
 
 This is the second speech that Meghan has given in public as a member of the royal family, after addressing guests at the launch of her charity cookbook at Kensington Palace last month. 
 
 Meghan was joined by Prince Harry during the visit of the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, today 
 
 The Duchess of Sussex, who wore a printed dress by Figue today, spoke to students as she was given a tour of the university 
 
 Harry, who wore a tropical shirt for the day of engagements in Fiji, also delivered a speech while at the university 
 
 This time, the Duchess used notes as she took to the stage at the University of the South Pacific - beginning with the Fiji greeting 'Bula!' 
 
 The speech proved just how confident Meghan is as a public speaker, as well as how keen she is to highlight issues that are important to her. 
 
 The former actress previously spoke about gender equality at a UN Conference in 2015, before her relationship with Prince Harry. 
 
 Meghan's first public speeches have come just months after her wedding, and suggests she may adopt a similar public role to former First Lady Michelle Obama - who, along with husband Barack, enjoys a close friendship with Harry. 
 
 The Duchess of Cambridge's first public speech came nearly a year after she married Prince William, during a visit to East Anglia Children's Hospices (EACH) in 2012. ||||| The Duchess of Sussex has addressed the University of the South Pacific in Fiji during her first speech on this Royal tour. 
 
 The Duchess of Sussex has addressed the University of the South Pacific in Fiji during her first speech on this Royal tour. 1:52 
 
 MEGHAN Markle’s half-sister has claimed the duchess told a big lie in her first official speech on the Royal Tour. 
 
 According to Samantha Markle, the Duchess of Sussex was “delusionally absurd” to claim to an audience at the University of the South Pacific’s campus in Fiji yesterday that she had paid her own university fees, using scholarships and financial aid programs. 
 
 MORE: Meghan rushed out of marketplace over ‘security risk’ 
 
 In an angry since-deleted tweet, Samantha criticised her sibling, claiming it was actually their father, Thomas Markle Senior, who’d forked out the money for her education. 
 
 In her widely-praised speech on Tuesday, Meghan told the crowd that she understood the “personal feeling of pride and excitement” that came with attending university. 
 
 “I am also fully aware of the challenges of being able to afford this level of schooling for many people around the world — myself included,” she said. 
 
 “It was through scholarships, financial aid programs and work-study where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition — that I was able to attend university. And, without question, it was worth every effort.” 
 
 Samantha later doubled down on her claims, even tagging the official Kensington Palace Twitter page in her accusations. 
 
 “Our father paid for all of her education! This speech is not true,” she wrote, adding: “Our father paid for all of her education, this is an outrageous lie! She needs to stop hiding the truth.” 
 
 She then listed all the institutions their father had paid for — claiming he financed Meghan’s education at the Little Red School House, Immaculate Heart, and Northwestern University — before demanding “proof” of her scholarships. 
 
 “Proof, let’s see proof of scholarships and grants. Dad paid for her education, all of it. If she worked at all, it was for extra shoe money and party money,” Samantha wrote. 
 
 Thomas Markle Senior has previously claimed that he paid Meghan’s $41,980-a-year tuition after winning $1.586 million on a lottery. 
 
 “When Meghan was 11, she moved back in with me up until she was 17 and went to college,” he told the Daily Mail last year. 
 
 “I was having my good years then, making good money, and could afford to give her the best, with a good school, good education, good home. She became the woman that she is today thanks to everything I did for her.” 
 
 Despite the negativity from her half-sister surrounding her university speech, the Duchess of Sussex’s first official royal tour with Prince Harry has so far been widely considered a raging success. 
 
 The tour briefly hit a rough patch yesterday, with security having to whisk Meghan out of a Fijian marketplace just six minutes in to a planned 20-minute appearance. 
 
 It’s understood the pregnant royal whispered to an aide just minutes before she was whisked out of the public meet-and-greet due to a “security risk”. 
 
 Massive crowds had swarmed the Suva Municipal Market in a bid to catch a glimpse of her. 
 
 An onlooker claimed Meghan appeared to “look concerned” as she entered the “hot and humid” market. 
 
 “When she got into the market she looked really disengaged, not her usual self at all,” they told UK newspaper The Mirror. 
 
 “She stopped to speak to a pineapple seller on one of the stalls and had a very blank and disengaged look on her face, which is very unlike her. 
 
 “It was very hot and humid in there so perhaps it wasn’t the best environment for a pregnant woman. 
 
 “After speaking for about a minute she broke off and spoke to the same aide again before she was whisked out of the market very soon after.” 
 
 Pictures showed members of the security team and local authorities looking flustered as they quickly guided Meghan out. 
 
 The Duchess gave an apologetic wave to her fans as she was escorted out, brushing her fringe out of her face. 
 
 Kensington Palace later claimed Meghan’s sudden exit was due to a “security risk”.
– Meghan Markle's half-sister took another shot at her this week over a speech the duchess gave in Fiji, the HuffPost reports. Speaking Wednesday at the University of the South Pacific, Markle talked about the importance of a college education and said she was only able to attend Northwestern University via "scholarships, financial aid programs, and work-study." But half-sis Samantha Grant said Markle received no financial aid, tweeting, "The speech was a lie." "It takes a lot of audacity, and deceit to lie about something as important as funding of a college education," Grant added. "To take that dignity and joy away from dad is morally unconscionable." Thomas Markle has said he paid Meghan's annual $41,980 tuition using money he scored with a $1.6 million lottery ticket, Australia's News Network recalls. "She became the woman that she is today thanks to everything I did for her," Thomas told the Daily Mail. (Grant has also taken exception to words uttered by Prince Harry.)