Meghan Markle has revealed she considered herself an ‘ugly duckling’ during her childhood, telling The Office actress Mindy Kaling in the latest episode of her Archetypes podcast that she struggled with the way she looked as a youngster.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, made the comments in the third podcast released on Spotify, telling Kaling that she was ‘not the pretty one’ when growing up and would often join clubs so she would have meetings at lunch and wouldn’t have to sit alone.
The 50-minute podcast was released as the couple jetted to Germany for an Invictus Games event, and also saw the two women discuss how men for a long time assumed they were funnier than their female counterparts, and the stigma of being a single woman.
In the candid exchange, Kaling talks about how she tries to instill confidence in her own daughter, Katherine, four, by telling her she’s beautiful – but adds that she doesn’t think that’s always the right message.
Kaling says: ‘I grew up always feeling ugly, overweight, ‘othered’, and so, with my daughter, I’m always telling her that she’s beautiful to the point where my friend BJ is like “You can tell her other compliments!”.
The actress added that while the compliment ‘smart’ came her way, and gave her confidence in her studies, she wasn’t told she was beautiful.
The Duchess then shared her own experiences, saying she empathized with not being the ‘pretty one’ at school, much to the surprise of her interviewee.
‘Were you not the pretty one growing up?’ a shocked Kaling asks.
‘No, oh God, no!’ responds Markle, adding: ‘Ugly duckling’.
She clarified that her looks might have been considered unconventionally beautiful, saying she had ‘massive frizzy, curly hair and a huge gap in my teeth. I was the smart, one forever and ever and ever and ever – and then I sort of grew up.’
Kaling replies she expected that Markle had been ‘the hot girl who, like, has her head screwed on right’ at school, ‘because her mom’s probably, like, really cool.’
Prince Harry’s wife explained that while at school at the Hollywood Schoolhouse and, later, all-girls Catholic school, Immaculate Heart, in Los Angeles she struggled to fit in with her peers.
She explains: ‘I never had anyone to sit with at lunch. I was always a little bit of a loner and really shy and didn’t know where I fit in.
And so I just became, well, I was like, okay then, I’ll become the president of the multi-cultural club and the president of sophomore class and the president of this… and French club. And by doing that, I had meetings at lunchtime, so I didn’t have to worry about who I would sit with or what I would do because I was always so busy.’
Kaling tells the former Suits star that listening to her recount her experiences of a lonely childhood make her more easy to relate to, saying that she was ‘intimidated’ by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s apparently ‘successful’ lives before the podcast was recorded.
She told the duchess: ‘You do seem so intimidating, your life is together, you’re so beautiful.’
She gushes: ‘And like, even in the Oprah thing is like, “oh my God, she has chickens?” Who has their s*** together enough to raise chickens and kids? It’s nice to know that you were a lonely kid who didn’t like necessarily being that way.’
The new podcast was expected to come out on the streaming service at 12.30pm today – like last week’s episode with Mariah Carey – but ended up being released two hours early at 10.30am as the couple head to Germany.
The description on Spotify says: ‘Meghan speaks candidly with Mindy Kaling who opens up in an unprecedented conversation about the joys, challenges, and stigmas of her life as a single, unmarried woman – plus her decision to start a family on her own.
‘This episode also features New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister, who unpacks the many archetypes that have followed single women for generations.’
It comes as the couple are set to appear in Germany for an Invictus Games event later on today, fresh from Meghan’s first in-person address in Britain since quitting as a working royal.
Meghan Markle says she grew up dreaming of a ‘perfect, cookie cutter lifestyle’ inspired by the Archie Comics she read as a girl – and jokes the character also led to a ‘love of red heads and the name’
By Harriet Johnston for MailOnline
Meghan Markle has said revealed she ‘read a lot of Archie Comics’ as a child – as she confessed she ‘loves red heads and the name’ on her latest podcast Archetypes.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, released the third episode of her series today as she jetted to Dusseldorf for the launch of the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, the Paralympic-style event for servicemen and women founded by the prince.
The royal mother-of-two spoke with A-lister actress Mindy Kaling during the episode, discussing the term ‘spinster’ and what it is like to be a mother.
During the episode, Meghan spoke of how she ‘romanticized’ the life portrayed in the magazines, explaining: ‘My son is not named after the comic books but I loved them. I collected them.’
After Archie Mountbatten Windsor was born on May 7 2019, fans of both the comic books and Riverdale — the CW teen drama based on the series — were delighted to learn that he shares a name with the red-headed title character Archie Andrews.
I was alone so much as a child, I read a lot of Archie Comic books.
She continued: ‘I always wanted this cookie cutter perfect life – and you looked at that, and the boy in the letterman jacket…I romanticized that.
‘It’s all part of the things that make you have this idea of the things you want when you grow up.’
The Duchess went on to compare herself to the character Betty Cooper from the comics, who was a love interest of Archie.
The character was portrayed as popular, with a desire to help the homeless, read to the senior citizens, and rescue wounded animals and birds.
Meanwhile she also loved cooking and was one of the most intelligent of the characters in the comic book series.
Meghan said: ‘I’m way more Betty than Veronica and I’m the smart one, not the pretty one, and am I going to get the guy one day? All this stuff was wrapped up in reading Archie Comic books and It’s aspirational in some ways.
She went on to giggle as she confessed: ‘I like red heads and I like the name Archie too! It’s full circle!’
The royal couple have not previously revealed why they chose the name Archie for their son, but have long been theories abound.