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Meghan Markle has launched a new podcast in which she focuses on the work and achievements of female entrepreneurs.
On her latest episode, Meghan talked a bit about her own life and career.
And in a revelation that’s sure to shock — well, just about everyone — it seems that the Duchess of Sussex struggled to book certain types of work in her modeling days.
Meghan Markle makes surprising admission about her modeling days
Speaking with It Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima, Meghan opened about the ways in which the modeling industry damaged her self-esteem.
“That would have been when I was an actor, auditioning for commercials. And I remember my commercial agent could not submit me for beauty or skincare ads because I had freckles,” the Duchess of Sussex explained, adding:
“They’re like, ‘No, no, no, no. It’s just never gonna work because freckles aren’t a sign of beauty.’”
Reflecting on the beauty standards of that era, Meghan revealed that she was often made to feel like an outsider.
“You couldn’t see yourself reflected there,” she said.
Thankfully, Meghan transitioned to a career in acting, and her role on Suits led her to Prince Harry.
A new era in beauty and fashion
From there, Lima opened up about how her vision for a more inclusive skincare brand led to her massive success.
“What if I could launch a business where I put real people as models? Every age and shape and size and skin tone and skin challenge,” she remembered thinking.
“And that was such new thinking then, when you were bringing that to market” Meghan gushed.
“Now it may seem more normalized. People listening now will be like ‘Well yeah of course,’ It was not an ‘of course.’ It was a revolutionary way to think about makeup and beauty at the time.”
During a previous episode, Meghan opened up about the insensitivity she encountered in her youth.
“When I was at Northwestern and I moved into Kappa [Kappa Gamma], our sorority there, I don’t even think they made plug-in flat irons at the time,” she said.
“If they did, I didn’t know where they were because I had the little stove with the flat iron that would go in and have a paper towel on the side.
“And I remember most of the girls in the sorority — who were not black — saying, ‘What’s that smell? Is hair burning? And it was just what you would do to figure out how to grapple with this texture of hair.”
Needless to say, that must have been a painful experience for young Meghan, and we’re sure it wasn’t the first or the last.
Sadly, that sort of exclusivity probably went a long way toward preparing for life in the British royal family.
