Meghan Markle Says This Feature Prevented Her From Modeling as It Wasn't "A Sign of Beauty"
The Duchess of Sussex opened up about the early days of her career in her new podcast.


Meghan Markle has been busy on the podcast front this week, giving her first-ever interview on close friend Jamie Kern Lima's show. She discussed everything from whether she'll run for president to the secret emails she sends to her kids each night, but the Duchess of Sussex also welcomed Kern Lima on her own "Confessions of a Female Founder" show April 29. During the episode, the duchess shared some memories from her acting career—and the setbacks she faced because of what she looked like.
IT Cosmetics founder Kern Lima admitted how it was tough building her makeup and skincare empire, sharing how stores weren't interested at first in seeing the products "on all ages and real people and sizes and skin tones."
The Duchess of Sussex revealed that at the same time, she was trying to build her own career. "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," she said.
The Duchess of Sussex showed off her freckles during a makeup-free appearance on Jamie Kern Lima's podcast.
Markle visited NYC last week for the TIME100 event.
"They're like, 'No, no, no, no, it's just never going to work because freckles aren't a sign of beauty,'" the duchess said, adding, "You couldn't see yourself reflected there." It wasn't just beauty ads that Meghan found tough to break into, even though she said that she was still able to "get into a lot of rooms."
"I heard no all the time, especially because I wasn't cookie-cutter for a specific type," the duchess said. "And at the start of my auditioning career, you were either the Black girl or the white girl or the Latina girl or the like, everything was typecast.”
Meghan also shared the advice she received from Oprah Winfrey when starting her new lifestyle brand, As ever. "Oprah, who I know as a mentor and friend to you, same for me, she was the one that said, 'There are tons of things you could put your name on,'" the duchess told Kern Lima.
Winfrey continued to Meghan, "But for you and how you like to show up for people, once you figure out how to encapsulate your essence, then you'll know."
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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.
Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.
Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.
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