Meghan Markle on being the 'ugly duckling' during her lonely childhood - 'Didn't know where I fit in'
The royal said she was a bit of a 'loner'The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, said she felt she was the “ugly duckling” during her childhood.
The royal explained she was a bit of a ‘loner’ and didn’t feel like she ‘fit in’ because she was the ‘smart one’ at school.
44-year-old Meghan found a career in Hollywood after university and after starring in legal drama Suits, married Prince Harry in 2018. She opened up about growing up in her first podcast series, Archetypes, on Spotify with guest Mindy Kaling.
Meghan Markle was an ‘ugly ducking’ during her childhood
The Duchess of Sussex told Archetypes guest Mindy Kaling she had no one to sit with during school lunchtimes. During the course of the 50-minute podcast episode, Meghan and Mindy discussed how the comedy actress compliments her young daughter.
Mindy explained she wasn’t told she was “beautiful” as a child, although she was complimented on being “smart”.
Meghan than noted she could empathise similarly with how she was regarded at school.
“Were you not the pretty one growing up?” a shocked Mindy replied.
“No, oh God, no!” Meghan responded, adding: “Ugly duckling.”
Meghan went on to say her appearance may have been considered unconventionally beautiful.
She explained she had “frizzy, curly hair and a huge gap in my teeth”.
Meghan continued: “I was the smart one, forever and ever and ever and ever. And then I sort of grew up.”
Royal ‘didn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch’
Mindy said she’d expected Meghan would’ve been “the hot girl who has her head screwed on right” during her teenage years.
But the Duchess indicated she wasn’t a beacon of popularity with fellow pupils during her time at the Hollywood Schoolhouse and the Immaculate Heart school in Los Angeles.
“I never had anyone to sit with at lunch,” Meghan explained.
“I was always a little bit of a loner and really shy and didn’t know where I fit in.”
Read more: What Meghan Markle was really like at college in words of former classmates
It seems former Suits actress Meghan threw herself into extra-curricular activities instead.
She went on: “So I became the president of the multicultural club, and the president of sophomore class and the president of 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.”
Mindy, who at one point admitted she found Meghan and husband Prince Harry’s lives “intimidating”, said she found the duchess’ confession a “revelation”.
“I think that I certainly didn’t know that about you and that’s nice to know,” she reacted.
Where did Meghan Markle grow up?
Meghan Markle grew up in Los Angeles, California, and was raised by her parents Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle.
The royal opened up about living in ‘two homes’ after her parents divorced, during a clip from her docuseries with husband Harry for Netflix from 2022.
She recited a poem she wrote as a child where she expressed feeling sad over having a broken home, and instead, wanted that traditional ‘nuclear’ life.
Her parents lived together when Meghan Markle was born, but split two years into her childhood. The royal moved in with her mother in a top-floor apartment in Mid-Wilshire and her dad had an apartment behind the Hollywood strip.
Although she appeared close to her father up until adulthood, she claimed she never spent time with her half-siblings Samantha and Thomas Jnr.
Meghan’s relationship with her father broke down after he couldn’t make it to her royal wedding in 2018 due to health reasons. It appears they remain estranged ever since, as he often makes public pleas to meet his grandchildren and son-in-law the Duke of Sussex.
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