The Duchess of Sussex is to take part in a virtual couch party to encourage voting ahead of the US presidential election.

Meghan will join the online When All Women Vote event as a special guest on Thursday.

The When We All Vote organisation tweeted: “We are SO excited to announce that Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex is joining the #WhenAllWomenVote Couch Party.”

A source close to the Meghan said: “The duchess is excited and honoured to be able to speak briefly to the group about the value of women being civically engaged.”

The source stressed the gathering is not partisan in nature and will focus on empowering women and strengthening democracy.

Meghan has previously suggested she will use her vote in the US election in November.

“I know what it’s like to have a voice, and also what it’s like to feel voiceless,” she told Marie Claire.

Members of the royal family traditionally do not vote, and the Queen is politically neutral.

Although UK law does not ban royalty from voting, it is considered unconstitutional for them to do so.

American-born Meghan quit as a senior working royal in March and now lives in the US, although she still remains a member of the royal family.

Speaking to The 19th online news site last week, Meghan encouraged Americans to register to vote and remarked about the Duke of Sussex: “My husband, for example. He’s never been able to vote, and I think it’s such an interesting thing to say that the right to vote is not a privilege, it’s a right in and of itself.”

When We All Vote aims to increase participation in elections and to close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting.

Its couch party will encourage voter registration and commemorate the centennial of the US’s 19th Amendment – which granted the right for some women to vote – and feature an Action Call with its special celebrity guests.

It added it would also “celebrate the women of colour who have fought to make the promise of the 19th Amendment a reality for ALL women, and highlight the need to expand voting rights for marginalised communities”.