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Michelle Obama: Schoolgirls receive video call from former first lady

Michelle Obama spoke to current and former pupils for an hour via video call (Credit: The One Show)

Former US first lady Michelle Obama has reconnected with a group of London schoolgirls she first met 10 years ago.

Mrs Obama spent an hour speaking by video call to pupils from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (EGA) School in Islington and Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets on Wednesday.

She visited the schools between 2009 and 2015 during her time as first lady.

Mrs Obama told them: "Conversations like these keep me optimistic. Meeting all of you, watching your growth.

"You all give me hope.

"No matter how high you get or how smart you are, or how successful, life will throw you things that you're not necessarily prepared for.

"And if you know how to get yourself through it you will succeed."

BBC One's The One Show will air a film about the meeting from 19:00 BST on Thursday.

Getty Images S First Lady Michelle Obama holds flowers as she is received by young students holding the American flag in the courtyard before an event as part of the 'Let Girls Learn Initiative' at the Mulberry School for Girls on June 16, 2015 in London,Getty Images
Mrs Obama visited Mulberry School for Girls in 2015 to launch her Let Girls Learn

She first visited EGA School in 2009 and in 2011 took a group of pupils to Oxford University when she gave a talk to Christ Church College.

Mrs Obama first visited Mulberry School for Girls in 2015 to launch her Let Girls Learn campaign.

Later that year she welcomed pupils from the school to the White House.

The lawyer and author, 57, reconnected with the girls to mark the launch of paperback and younger reader editions of her 2018 autobiography Becoming.

The One Show Michelle ObamaThe One Show
The former first lady told the schoolgirls "you all give me hope"

Synicia, 12, called Mrs Obama a "very inspirational woman".

The Mulberry School student said: "It's a really great opportunity for me and the whole school."

Nusrath Hassan, 23, an alumni student at the same school added: "I am so excited for people like Synicia.

"Because, Mrs Obama has had such a fundamental impact and difference on my life."

Sarah Beagley, headteacher at EGA School, said: "Since 2009 she has stayed true to her word, continuing to connect with us in multiple ways and remains a truly inspirational figure for generations of EGA students.

"We are proud and delighted that she values her relationship with us as much as we do with her."

A video of the full conversation will be available on the BBC's iPlayer, and released by book publishers Penguin on its YouTube Channel.