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Meghan Markle news: Duchess of Sussex on Aspire with Emma Grede podcast | Returning to social media, swipe at royal family ‘a lie can’t last forever’, getting into fashion and beauty and what made her uncomfortable about Prince Archie Princess Lilibet
The Duchess of Sussex has given what’s been described as her “first wide-ranging interview” about her recent rebrand as a lifestyle guru, in which she took a thinly veiled swipe at the royal family.
Meghan said she would “ask people to tell the truth” if she was able to rewrite her public narrative from scratch, adding “a lie can’t last forever”.
The 43-year-old was the guest on the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast where, over 90 minutes, she also spoke about her plans to get into fashion, using her image to sell clothes, why she really returned to social media and feeling “uncomfortable” with the public’s attention on her two children.
Watch the video above
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‘I would ask people to tell the truth’
Grede, a founding partner of Kim Kardashian’s undergarment company Skims, asked the duchess whether the public narrative around her was “very different” now than it was before she started dating Prince Harry in 2016.
“It is, Emma,” Meghan said. “It is very different.”
The host then asked the duchess if there was anything she would do differently if she “could rewrite” her public narrative “from scratch”.
“Yes,” Meghan said. “I would ask people to tell the truth.”
Referring to advice she once received from friend, tennis champion Serena Williams Meghan said: “My dear friend Serena, she told me years ago: ‘A lie can’t live forever’.
“Eight years is a long time, but not forever.”
Meghan became engaged to Prince Harry in 2017 and in May, 2018, she married into the royal family.
The fallout between the Sussexes and the royals began soon after their engagement when Prince William urged his brother not to rush into marriage.
And her strained relationship with sister-in-law Kate was detailed at length in Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.
Meghan told Oprah in 2021 she could not be expected to stay silent if “the Firm is playing a part in perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Prince Harry.
The duchess also publicly singled out the Princess of Wales as having made her cry in the run-up to her wedding and said it was important for people to “understand the truth”.
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Grede said: “You’re very measured about it. I would just get so angry if I felt like everyone was lying about me all the time…”
The duchess replied: “Peaks and valleys… It’s true, of course, I’ve gone through those chapters and do a lot of work, you do a lot of self-work and go, what’s the why? It’s happening for a reason.”
‘Get my voice back’
The duchess returned to social media in January and her personal Instagram now has 3.8 million followers.
She’s increasingly used the platform to share images and videos of her and Prince Harry’s two children Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four.
Meghan said: “For me it was a great way to get my voice back. It’s my space and my channel for joy… that’s the intention of my handle.
“It feels liberating.”
But she has also raised eyebrows for posting videos and photos of her children, despite wanting privacy.
The most recent post featuring Archie and Lilibet came on Father’s Day in the US on Sunday, which was the most Meghan had showed of her children in public.
‘You have to be authentic’
Two weeks ago, Meghan released an extraordinary video showing her twerking with Prince Harry in a hospital delivery room.
The footage was filmed as she and the Duke of Sussex awaited the birth of their daughter and published on Meghan’s Instagram page to celebrate the young royal’s fourth birthday.
It was met with a mixture of amusement, criticism and incredulity.
Meghan broke her silence on the 80-second clip which saw her lip-syncing and gyrating to the Baby Mama Dance, a song that became a TikTok trend in which pregnant women showcased their dance moves on social media.
She told Grede: “You have to be authentic. Did you see my Baby Mama dance?”
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”That wasn’t yesterday. That was four years ago. So it’s also a really great reminder that with all the noise or whatever people do, there’s still a whole life – a real, authentic, fun life – that’s happening behind the scenes.
“I’m just grateful that now, being back on social as well, I have a place where I can share it on my own terms.”
Meghan’s impact on Australian denim company
The duchess spoke about the impact she has had on various brands, with clothes immediately selling out after she had been pictured wearing items.
”Imitation is the best form of flattery,” Meghan said.
She made particular reference to her time as a working royal and her intention to choose female-founded brands that were doing good.
Meghan said: “When I didn’t feel as though I had as much of an opportunity to speak, what can you say with what you’re wearing? You can say a lot.
“Any territories we could go on to certain tours, I always tried to tap into local designers to really see their business… how many people they could help or how much they could give back.”
“There’s intention,” Meghan said, of her decision to showcase particular labels.
“And so I think in moments where I found I wasn’t as empowered with my voice, I still wanted to be able to be heard in other ways. I still wanted women to know I was supporting them.”
She appeared to reference Outland Denim, a brand started by Queensland couple James and Erica Bartle that directly helps survivors of sex and human trafficking in Cambodia.
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Meghan wore a pair of its $199 jeans while in Dubbo when she and Prince Harry visited Australia in October, 2018, just months after their wedding.
“There was a company, they made jeans and they would help women,” she said.
“They gave positions and roles to women who would have been trafficked. And they took them off the streets and they put them into this labour force to be able to have a well paying job where they were well taken care of.
“To be able to help that company and get letters from those founders saying we were able to help save 25 women because of you wearing those jeans, that is a huge privilege of influence.
“And I never took that lightly.”
’It became a little uncomfortable’
But, Meghan admitted, there was a downside that came with the huge level of interest in what she wore, especially when it involved her children.
Grede asked if the duchess was surprised by the level of attention her outfits have received over the years.
“At the beginning, of course,” Meghan said.
“It certainly got bigger. It really got bigger, got a lot bigger.”
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Grede asked: “Are you comfortable with that?”
Meghan said: “I have to be, it’s my life. You get comfortable.
“Maybe the surprise came in when anything that my children were wearing started to get monetised and affiliate sales and part of headlines and things.
“That’s where it became a little uncomfortable. But at the same time you know, when it comes from a place of love and excitement, that’s very, very different. then you can be happy about it.”
‘There’ll be a time for fashion’
Meghan explained why she chose to make her brand As ever about food and cooking, instead of fashion and beauty as many had thought she would.
She said: “Doing fashion would have been very obvious… but I wanted to go with what my heart was really responding to in this moment.”
Asked if the duchess would one say move into the beauty world she said: ”I think it could be fun and I think there’ll be a time for that.
“I think there’ll certainly be a time for fashion. Ultimately, I wanted to do what felt authentic.”
Meghan also said she was planning on “going global”, opening As ever to the worldwide market in “the spirit of sharing”.
Currently the products are only available to ship to US-based addresses.
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