Meghan Markle Didn't Fit In As A Teenager, Claims She Was 'Ugly Duckling'

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, recently admitted that she was an "ugly duckling" during her teenage years. The Royal is currently on her European tour with her husband, Prince Harry and recently gave a speech at the One Young World summit in Manchester, England.

The couple is set to appear in a number of charity events during their tour in the next few days. The move is Harry and Markle's first time working together in Britain since they stepped down from their positions as senior royals in 2020 and started living in the U.S.

Markle appeared in the latest episode of her podcast and, in a conversation about societal behavior towards women, talked about how she was a loner in high school. The 41-year-old also revealed her displeasure for constantly being told that she was "lucky" to be chosen by Harry.

Keep reading to learn more.

According to Markle, she wasn't the paragon of beauty while growing up. The Duchess of Sussex recently talked about her time in high school in her podcast "Archetypes" (via Newsweek). She described herself as an "ugly duckling" at the time and revealed that she didn't have anyone to share a table with during lunchtime.

The conversation in the podcast's third episode was on how society treated single women. The 41-year-old told Mindy Kaling about her time as a lonely teen at Immaculate Heart High School.

The Duchess said, "Again, if you're not the pretty one growing up, you just, like, 'oh what can I learn? What can I do? I want the A+." Kaling asked Markle if she wasn't "the pretty one" while growing up.

The mother of two replied, "No. Oh god, no. Ugly duckling. Not conventional beauty as in, now 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."

Markle explained that while in high school, she was a "little bit of a loner" and had trouble finding a place where she could "fit in." She revealed that she resolved the issue of finding friends by joining several clubs in school and didn't have to worry about fitting in anymore.

The 41-year-old said, "And so I just became, I was like, 'okay, well I'll become the president of the multi-culture club and the president of the sophomore class and the president of this and 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."

The Royal spoke about her years as a teen after her speech at the One Young World summit during her European tour with Prince Harry. According to Markle, she was "overwhelmed" by the experience and felt nervous. She explained that while on stage, she wondered if she was "good enough to even be there" and if her actions deserved a seat at such a prestigious table.

During her podcast, Markle also shed some light on how several people have told her she was "lucky" to be picked by Prince Harry. The conversation arose while the Duchess and Kaling talked about singleton, a term used to refer to unmarried ladies.

Markle spoke about the word, explaining that she thought that singleton carried a "double entendre." She also shed some light on her early years dating Harry and how she was constantly bombarded with comments about how lucky she was to be with the Royal.

"When I started dating my husband, and we became engaged, everyone was just like, 'Oh my God, you are so lucky he chose you!'" the 41-year-old recalled. "And at a certain point, after you hear it a million times over, you're like, 'I chose him too!'"

In response to the comments, Harry reportedly claimed he was the lucky one in the relationship because Markle decided to be with him. She said, "But thankfully, I had a partner who was countering that narrative for me and going, 'They've got it all wrong. I'm the lucky one because you chose me."

The Duchess further explained that the act of labeling a woman as lucky simply because she was in a relationship with a man was entirely "gendered, archetyped and stereotyped." According to Markle, the entire notion fed the narrative that most women were constantly waiting for an assurance that they were good enough from partners.

The Royal said, "It just feeds into this idea that you're waiting for someone to tell you that you're good enough as opposed to knowing that you're good enough on your own."

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6neuBm0vVeeawV5eYNnm4p?si=ca3e8503f2ec4673