During her latest appearance, Meghan Markle offered a rare glimpse of her son Archie.
The Duchess was joined by her mom, plus Jotaka Eaddy, the founder and CEO of Full Circle Strategies, a social-impact consulting firm, and political strategist Donna Brazile on Zoom.
Scroll down for the latest!
Meghan and Harry seem to have been the pillars of scrutiny against the Royal Family since stepping down from their positions.
Meghan and Harry said they wanted a more private life for their children, and moved to Los Angeles to live a more normal life out of the media eye.
However, many feel like the couple has truly slandered the Royal Family.
And that Harry’s relationships with his brother, father, and grandparents was “hanging by a thread.”
Although, through the rifts, there were reports that the Royal Family were “delighted” by the news of the couple’s second child, Lilibet’s birth.
Despite Harry’s continuous blasting of them across all media platforms.
Harry’s relationship with his family still remains strained.
With Charles apparently refusing his calls on the lead up to the announcement in 2020. Harry also said he was financially cut off from his father after they stepped down and at first they were forced to live off Diana’s inheritance.
Asked by Oprah Winfrey during their televised interview about why they left, Harry blamed a “lack of support and lack of understanding.”
He also said he wanted to get away from the ‘genetic pain’ he felt from his family, especially his father, King Charles.
“I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson.”
“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.”
Then, of course, following Lilibet’s birth came the controversy surrounding her name…
With one royal biographer, Angela Levin, deeming it as ‘rude.’
As we know, their baby girl was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Paying tribute to Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997, when Harry was just twelve.
The name Lilibet is also a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II herself.
A family pet name, the Queen bestowed it on herself as a child as she couldn’t pronounce the name Elizabeth. The name was particularly used by the Queen’s late husband Prince Philip. It was also used by her doting father, King George VI.
But, despite the tribute, people still weren’t happy with some even accusing that, by using the Queen’s private pet name as a first name, Harry had broken royal protocol.
Harry was heavily criticized for taking such a private, intimate pet name and giving it to his child, after what some are calling an ‘onslaught of abuse’ against his grandmother and The Firm.
Royal commentator, Richard Kay, suggested that it may be a step too far for Meghan and Harry to name their daughter Lilibet.
Writing in a column for the Daily Mail, he said: “By giving the baby the name Lilibet, the Queen’s private family nickname – even though they intend to use the diminutive ‘Lili’ for their daughter – there is a risk.”
“Will it be seen as a presumptuous choice for a royal baby who is eighth in line to the throne, but who will grow up on the other side of the world speaking with an American accent?”
“It is tempting to wonder if Harry would have been so emboldened in his choice if his grandfather Prince Philip – the only close family member permitted to call the Queen ‘Lilibet’ – had still been alive.”
“Doubtless, there will be among the more cautious courtiers at the Palace some discomfort and the odd raised eyebrow at this latest convention-destroying Exocet from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
There was a mixed response to the name, with some believing that the couple were pandering to the Queen for forgiveness, whilst others thought that it was a touching tribute.
Following that, Meghan revealed in a short clip that she was asking forty friends to donate forty minutes to help mentor a woman back into work.
In a message on their Archewell website with the clip, Meghan also wrote: “In reflecting on my 40th birthday and the many things I am grateful for, I’m struck that time is among our greatest and most essential gifts.”
“Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love, time spent learning, laughing, growing, and the sacred time we have on this earth. Amongst the most valuable gifts of time is also time spent in service to others knowing that it can contribute to incredible change.”
“To that last point, and with my 40th lap around the sun in mind, it made me wonder: what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need? And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?”
“In the past two years, and in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of millions of women around the world have left the workforce, including over 2 million women in the US.”
“So many of these women are also shouldering the brunt of the crisis when it comes to unpaid labor, including schooling and caring for family members. And the latest research shows that fewer women than men will regain work as we recover from the pandemic.”
“I believe mentorship is one way to help women regain confidence and rebuild their economic strength, and for my birthday, I have asked 40 friends, activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to help kickoff a global effort by contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women re-entering the workforce.”
“With this time, I hope they each help someone advance a professional life on her own terms, and, I hope that they inspire countless others to give 40 minutes of their time as well.
“If you are able, please join us and pledge 40 minutes today in service of others in the way that feels right to you. The time that you donate can contribute to a global wave of service and set in motion meaningful impact in our own communities, and across the world.”
And not long after, the pair sparked opinions from people once again…
When the couple released their 2021 Christmas card which features the first public photo of their daughter, Lilibet.
The then-6-month-old is featured alongside the couple and her big brother, Archie and as you can imagine, many people were swooning over how adorable it is.
However, there are some people that had an issue with it as they “felt sorry” for Archie…
“Poor Archie completely ignored and they wasn’t significant enough to make them a family,” one person said.
“To be honest, that’s a little insulting to poor Archie. Sort of like until Lili came along he didn’t really matter. The photo is also all about Lili, no one is paying him any attention. Hope that’s not reflection of reality!” said another.
People have been left “feeling sorry” for Archie as they claim he looked “sad” and was being left out.
What do you think? We think the picture is adorable!
Now, though, it’s Will and Kate bagging the backlash.
The pair sent a message to Meghan Markle over social media that’s got everyone talking.
Well, Will and Kate wished Meghan a Happy Birthday…
Yes, that’s right… People are furious about it as they claim that Meghan doesn’t deserve a Happy Birthday from the Cambridges.
In other news, Meghan used the first episode of her brand new podcast to take a swipe at the Royal Family.
During the episode, she claimed that she was forced to continue with her engagements on a tour of South Africa despite being left in tears when her son Archie narrowly escaped a fire in his bedroom.
Meghan started her podcast by talking about the word ambition.
And how it affected her negatively.
“And um, apparently ambition is, uh… a terrible, terrible thing, for a woman that is – according to some.
“So, since I’ve felt the negativity behind it, it’s really hard to un-feel it,” she said, as per the Daily Mail.
“I can’t unsee it, either, in the millions of girls and women who make themselves smaller – so much smaller – on a regular basis,” she added.
Further adding to the topic, Meghan spoke to tennis legend Serena Williams, who is one of her close friends, about the double standards women face when they are labeled “ambitious.”
She complained about the misconception “that if you’re an ambitious woman you have an agenda, you must be calculating or selfish or aggressive or a climber.”
And she said that “the notion of ambition comes with many judgments and nuances — especially for women.”
“Now, look, I’m not Catholic. I wasn’t raised Catholic.”
“But about one year after my letter-writing campaign, I started middle school at Immaculate Heart (in Los Angeles). I stayed there, through high school. I was there for six years. And this feminist ideology trickled down into nearly every aspect of my education,” she said.
“It’s probably safe to say into every aspect of my life. This message to me and my classmates was clear: our futures as young women were limitless. Ambition. Well, that was the whole point.
“So I don’t ever remember personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word ambitious until I started dating my now husband,” Meghan said.
And an episode of Meghan’s podcast has hit headlines…
In the episode, Meghan spoke about the battles women face to keep their emotions inside with actors Constance Wu, Jenny Slate, and Deepika Padukone.
“I think when you’re taught that ladies don’t make scenes or, like, if you make a scene, you’re crazy,” said Wu.
“But really, the craziest thing in the world would be to keep all of that inside. So this. You, right now, I mean. I think it’s… I think it’s beautiful,” Meghan replied.
“So, even my own version of like… I would love to cry this much, but I’m conditioned to still have some – a different kind of composure.
“And now you sort of go, oh, just relax and let it out. And I see the same thing in my kids as you’re talking about in yours, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I want to do that’. I want to feel so deeply. It’s like an Adele album. Just like so much intense emotion,” she continued.
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called ‘crazy’ or ‘hysterical’, ‘nuts’, ‘out of your mind’, ‘completely irrational’.
“If we were all in the same room and could see each other, I think it’d be pretty easy to see just how many of you out there have your hands up. By the way, me too,” Meghan said.
Meghan also opened up about her life before entering the Royal Family, and how she struggled with how she was viewed while working on Deal or No Deal.
She appeared in 34 episodes between 2006 and 2007.
But it’s Paris Hilton’s debut on Meghan’s podcast, titled Breaking Down the Bimbo, that’s got people talking…
Meghan shared that she was treated like a “bimbo” and explained that she hopes her daughter doesn’t have to go through that: “I want our daughter to aspire to be slightly higher. Yeah, I want my Lili to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things.”
Speaking about working on Deal or No Deal, she said: “I ended up quitting the show. I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage. I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks. And little substance. And that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype the word bimbo.”
She added: “I was surrounded by smart women on that stage with me, but that wasn’t the focus of why we were there and I would end up leaving with this pit in my stomach. Like I said, I was thankful for the job but not for how it made me feel which was not smart.”
Meghan admitted that while she was “really grateful as an auditioning actress to have a job,” she just couldn’t shake the feeling of being appreciated for just her body rather than her brain.
She said: “There were times when I was on set at Deal or No Deal and thinking back to my time working as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, Buenos Aires, and being in the motorcade with the secretary of treasury at the time and being valued specifically for my brain.”
Meghan went on to interview Paris Hilton and Iliza Shlesinger.
They discussed the misogynistic labels of ‘Bimbo’ and ‘Dumb Blonde’, and why “brains and beauty in a woman have been historically pitted against each other.”
They then went on to discuss their hopes for women of the future.
Meghan said: “Curious to hear your thoughts on this idea of, when I hear the word ‘bimbo,’ I have a very negative connotation to it. I don’t see that as an aspirational thing for women.”
Meghan then pondered for a moment: “I want our daughters to aspire to be.”
Before fellow guest, Iliza Shlesinger, quipped in response: “Slightly higher.”
“Yeah. I want my Lili to want to be educated, and want to be smart, and to pride herself on those things,” the forty-one-year-old replied.
You can listen to the podcast episode here.
In another episode of her Archetypes podcast, Meghan revealed her daughter Lilibet’s latest milestone…
As well as touching on the subject of her busy mornings with her small family.
Meghan described the “morning rush” at home to her podcast guest, actress Pamela Adlon.
“I’m sure it’ll only get more chaotic as they get older,” Meghan said.
“But for me, it’s, you know, both monitors on for the kids to hear them, always up with Lili, get her downstairs, then a half hour later, Archie’s up. I start doing his lunchbox right before he’s up while I have her, getting her a little nibble. My husband’s helping me get him downstairs.
“I make breakfast for all three of them. It’s very important to me. I love doing it. To me, it just feels like the greatest way to start the morning,” she explained.
“Then get Archie out the door for school, but it does, it feels like a whirlwind,” Meghan added.
The Duchess then revealed how Lilibet had reached an incredible milestone…
“Lili has just started walking. She’s a year and a couple of months old,” she told Adlon.
Meghan added that her son Archie is 3 years old and “in the thick of it toddling.”
As well as talking about Lilibet’s latest milestone…
The Duchess also opened up about the challenges of motherhood in the public eye.
Speaking with Canada’s First Lady, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, she described it to be a “crushing guilt” feeling.
Being a mother of 2 can be difficult; especially when you have to navigate being a celebrity and a mother simultaneously.
Trudeau felt sympathy toward Meghan, and said she understood the guilt she was feeling.
Introducing Trudeau, Meghan said: “She knows what it feels like to be a mum and a partner. And specifically, a mum and a partner in the public eye, and also how crushing the guilt of expectations can become.”
Trudeau then said: “The guilt that we feel as mothers or as women, in general, is self-imposed. I think we’ve learned to self-impose it.
“We’re not born [with it]. A little girl is not born feeling guilty for being a girl. We learn it. And that’s completely unacceptable.
“So I think that when I started becoming, you know, an older girl and in an early adult stage, I realized that we often define freedom as a way to be free from the world. But it’s really a way to be free in the world.”
Meghan also spoke about how she once found a way to save a few dollars on a toy for 3-year-old Archie.
She recalled the time Trudeau visited her with her children Xavier, fifteen, Ella-Grace, thirteen, and Hadrien, 8, for a few days, and the families were playing by the pool.
“We splashed in the water, then threw some pool floats in,” Meghan said.
“And I kid you not the one without pepperoni was a few dollars less than the one with pepperoni.
“And yes, I’m still talking about the inflatable pizza float for the pool,” she added.
And in other news, Meghan has offered a rare glimpse at her son, Archie!
In a recent Zoom interview, Archie made a cameo on camera.
The screenshots have since been scrubbed from social media.
But you can see them here.
How adorable!