Meghan Markle says she felt like an ‘Ugly Duckling’ as a child
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has opened up about her childhood, admitting she felt like an “ugly duckling” at one point in time.
The 41-year-old duchess has opened up about her past struggles during a conversation with showbiz pal Mindy Kaling for her ‘Archetypes’ podcast series.
Mindy shared: “I grew up always feeling ugly, overweight, other-ed. And so with my daughter, I’m always telling her that she’s beautiful to the point where my friend B.J. is like you can tell her other compliments.
“Every morning I’m like, ‘You’re so beautiful,’ to the point where that’s not healthy either. But, I do think that’s how we can sort of change things.”
The duchess then confessed to empathizing with her pal, having been through a similar experience herself as a child.
She said: “Maybe that would be seen as beautiful but 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 just sort of grew up.”
The former ‘Suits’ star – who married Prince Harry in 2018 – also recalled feeling like an outsider during her school years.
The duchess – who attended Immaculate Heart, an all-girls Catholic school in Los Angeles – said: “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.
“I was like, ‘Okay, well then I’ll become the president of the Multicultural Club and the president of sophomore class and the president of this and French club.’ And by doing that, I had meetings at lunchtime … I didn’t have to worry about who I would sit with or what I would do because I was always so busy.”
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, 37, are in Europe for several events with their longstanding charities this week. After appearing at the One Young World Summit in Manchester on Monday, where Meghan gave the keynote speech, the couple traveled to Germany for the Invictus Games “One Year to Go” countdown event on Tuesday.
Harry and Meghan are then expected to return to the U.K. to attend the WellChild Awards Thursday.
