Duchess of Sussex is 'cold-calling US voters' ahead of election

The Duchess of Sussex has been cold-calling Americans to ask them to vote, author and Democrat campaigner Gloria Steinem has revealed, claiming Meghan "came home" for the presidential election.

The Duchess, who as a member of the British royal family was unable to share her political views in public, "came home to vote", Steinem said.

The pair have recently been working together to convince young women to vote, filming a video in which the Duchess said she is glad to be back in California "for so many reasons".

She left the working royal family with Prince Harry in January in pursuit of privacy and "financial independence" in America, and has since been involved in numerous events leading up the US presidential election.

In an interview with Access Hollywood, Steinem was asked how Meghan has inspired her.

Feminist Gloria Steinem says Meghan is smart, authentic, funny and political. Photo / AP

"She has a kind of stereotype hanging over her head which is 'princess'," she said.

"The whole idea of 'princess' is a problem. We [America] had a whole revolution to get rid of royalty.

"Meg is herself smart, authentic, funny, political. She came home to vote.

"The first thing we did, and why she came to see me, was we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters.

"Said 'hello I'm Meg' and 'hello I'm Gloria' and 'are you going to vote?'

"That was her initiative."

The Duchess's team has previously insisted her work to encourage Americans to vote is purely "non-partisan".

Steinem said in December: "I will work my heart out for any one of those [Democratic] candidates to make sure they get elected, and not Donald Trump.

"He has shown us everything that's wrong with the country at a high level."

In August, the Duchess joined an online summit of Michelle Obama's initiative When We All Vote urging women to vote for "change" in comments interpreted as a boost for the Democrat cause ahead of the US presidential election.

"We can make a difference in this election and we will make the difference in this election," she said then.

"It's a countdown to the change we would all like to see for the better for our country and watching all of you do your part in whatever way, just encourages us to make sure our voices are heard.

Meghan, with Prince Harry at the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in London, says she can make a difference in the US election. Photo / AP

"In the fraught moment right now we find our nation, exercising your right to vote isn't simply being part of a solution, it's being part of a legacy."

In separate events, the Duchess also appeared to share some of her frustrations about not being able to freely air her opinions during her life in Britain.

"I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless," she told a magazine, before declaring in an interview that she looked forward to "using my voice in a way that I haven't been able to of late".