Meghan Markle says she grew up an 'ugly duckling'© Getty Images

Meghan Markle says she was an ‘ugly duckling’ growing up

The Duchess of Sussex admitted she was “always a little bit of a loner” at school


SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 11:29 AM EDT

 Meghan Markle  grew up feeling she was “not the pretty one.” The Duchess of Sussex admitted to  Mindy Kaling  on the third episode of   Archetypes  that growing up she was an “ugly duckling.”

“Look, maybe not conventional beauty as it- now, maybe that would be seen as beautiful, but massive frizzy curly hair and a huge gap in my teeth,” Meghan shared. “I was the smart one. Forever and ever and ever and ever. And then just sort of grew up.”

© Spotify

The Duchess of Sussex said on her podcast that she was an ‘ugly duckling’ growing up

Meghan admitted that it was “really hard.” The royal mom of two grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hollywood Schoolhouse and later the all-girls Catholic school Immaculate Heart. Meghan revealed that at lunch she “never had anyone to sit with.” “I was always a little bit of a loner and really shy and didn’t know where I fit in,” she confessed.

To avoid worrying about who to sit with, the Duchess kept herself busy at school. “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,” Meghan said. “So I didn’t have to worry about who I would sit with or what I would do because I was always so busy.”

© Getty Images

Mindy Kaling was a guest on the third episode of Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast

The image of the girl Meghan described admittedly made Mindy “very emotional.” “I’m happy that people know that because I think people see you and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, like the wedding, the couture fittings for that and this and that.’ And I think that I certainly didn’t know that about you. And it’s nice to know,”  The Mindy Project  star said. 

Mindy also told Meghan, “I came in here, you know, and we don’t know each other, we have some people in common. But you do seem so intimidating. Your life is together, like you’re so beautiful. And like, even in the Oprah thing is like, oh, my God, she has chickens. Like, who has their shit together enough to have, like raise chickens and kids, like, come on. Like, and it’s nice to know that [you] were a lonely kid who didn’t like necessarily being that way.”