Meghan Markle Says She Was an “Ugly Duckling” in High School

Meghan Markle revealed that she wasn’t always the perfectly put-together royal you see today.

Meghan shared a bit about her high school experience on the latest episode of her podcast Archetypes titled “The Stigma of the Singleton with Mindy Kaling.” During the conversation, the two women discussed the stereotypes that still exist around being a single woman in the public eye, especially a single mother, as well as what they were like as teenagers. The Duchess of Sussex branded herself an “ugly duckling” in high school, explaining, “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. I was the smart one. Forever and ever and ever and ever. And, and then just sort of grew up.” At another point while discussing Archie comics, she added that she was always “way more Betty than Veronica…I was the smart one, not the pretty one.” And before her love of the cartoon could start any rumors, Meghan also made sure to clarify, “my son is not named after Archie comic books.”

She went on to explain that attending Immaculate Heart, an all-girls Catholic school, for middle and high school was a particularly challenging time in her life. “I never had anyone to sit with at lunch. I was always a little bit of a loner and really shy and didn’t know where I fit in,” she said. “And, and so I just became, 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, 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.”

In response to this revelation, Kaling shared, “That makes me very emotional. And that’s, 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 actress added that she also felt unattractive growing up as a “dark-skinned Indian girl, overweight, glasses, in lily-white suburbs of Boston never thinking I was attractive.” She continued, “I went through high school, no boyfriends. Heard about my friends kissing, falling in love, losing their virginity. College, same, nothing. Always a spectator watching things. By the way, I learned a lot from that. I learned how to, you know, so many of my shows right now are about young women and longing and feeling horny and feeling rejected, and I’ve learned a lot from that. I would even say I finally made my fortunate off of this, off of being this outsider, but it’s not a good feeling as yourself.”

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