Meghan Markle hits back at critics in candid new interview: ‘Tell the truth'
IN LONDON
Meghan has defended herself against the wave of criticism she's received since leaving the royal family, declaring she'd like 'people to tell the truth'.
Appearing on the Aspire podcast – hosted by Emma Grede, the CEO of the Good American fashion brand and founding partner of Kim Kardashian's Skims line – the Duchess of Sussex was asked: 'If you could rewrite your public narrative from scratch, is there anything you would do differently?'
Meghan responded firmly: 'Yes, I would ask people to tell the truth.'
'You're so measured about it, I'm such a hothead … I would just get so angry if I felt like everyone was lying about me all the time … don't you ever feel like just being, like, 'just leave me alone'?' Grede pressed her.
'Peaks and valleys. Of course, I've gone through those chapters and you do a lot of work. You do a lot of self-work and go, 'what's the why? It's happening for a reason'.'
'My dear friend Serena [Williams] … she told me years ago, 'a lie can't live forever'.'
She then appeared to make a thinly-veiled reference to her reported struggles upon joining the royal family in 2017, quickly adding: 'Eight years is a long time!'
The interview comes more than five years after she and Prince Harry quit royal duties and moved to California, and just months after she officially launched her new company, As Ever, associated Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, and podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.
'Is there a part of you that feels any sense of impostor syndrome? Do you ever sit back and get overwhelmed by how big the opportunity is, and then peddle back?' Grede asked during her interview with the former actress.
'I don't,' Meghan responded. 'I think I've always had a very entrepreneurial spirit, but equally I enjoy being in a position of having a strong team around me and being able to guide that team as a whole and I've also, in the adventures of my life, I have certainly navigated through things that can in some ways feel bigger.
'So this for me is just another chapter that I think is full of new learns, I love learning. I don't feel impostor syndrome, I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be right now.'
Elsewhere in their lengthy conversation, Meghan brought up her viral – and controversial – birthing suite dance video, which she posted last week as a throwback in honour of her daughter Lili's birthday.
'Did you see my Baby Mama dance?' Meghan asked Grede, responding to her remarks about being 'authentic'.
The British-born CEO responded that she'd seen it '20 times', telling the duchess that she even did 'a little secret cheer' for her while watching it.
'Like, I wanna see that happiness and that honesty and that, 'I don't give a f**k kind of thing,' Grede said.
'By the way, that wasn't yesterday,' Meghan clarified, explaining that she recorded it while waiting for Lili to be born in 2021.
'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 dancing video certainly divided opinion among the millions of people who viewed it after it was shared last week.
But while it attracted plenty of both mockery and support, it also managed to rack up thousands of likes and millions of views.
The footage was also part of a broader trend of Meghan posting more intimate and personal content of her personal life amid the launch of her new lifestyle business.
Meanwhile, speaking on the Aspire podcast, Meghan also shed light on the future of her company, admitting many people had been lobbying her to move into the beauty sector.
While it hadn't yet been the right time, she hinted that she was open to it at some point – and that she was already considering expanding into fashion.
It comes just days after The Sun reported that the duchess is adding hotels and restaurants to her brand wish list, trademarking As Ever for 'hospitality services'.
According to the publication, it will include places to stay, 'provision of food and drink' and temporary accommodation.
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