Meghan Markle Says Life as a Working Royal Mom Wasn't How She "Envisioned It"

Meghan Markle got real about motherhood in the latest episode of her podcast, "Confessions of a Female Founder." A day after celebrating her seventh wedding anniversary with some sweet personal photos, the Duchess of Sussex spoke with Cassandra "Cassie" Thurswell, founder of viral beauty brand Kitsch. The duo—who met well before Meghan's royal days—shared how they were surprised by just how much being a mom was different than they expected, especially in terms of being an entrepreneur.

For the duchess, who is mom to Prince Archie—who turned six earlier this month—and Princess Lilibet, 3, life as a royal mom didn't turn out the way she'd planned.

"I will say, for myself, especially when they are baby babies and before I was a mom—I've always wanted to be a mom—I was like, 'Oh gosh I'm going to give a speech with a baby on my hip,'" the Duchess of Sussex said on her Lemonada Media podcast. "I had a whole vision.”

Prince Archie did come on tour to South Africa with Prince Harry and Meghan at just four months old, attending his first royal engagement with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But, as the duchess explained, "external" factors changed what she thought royal motherhood would be like.

"Granted, I had a lot of external things happening by the time I had both pregnancies and both babies," she continued. "But it was not the way I envisioned it."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior working royals in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, where Princess Lilibet was born. Since then, they've raised their children out of the public eye, although Prince Harry said he'd like his kids to attend the Invictus Games in the future.

Archie and Lilibet do make regular appearances on their mom's Instagram account, although she doesn't show their faces. The duo have whipped up Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day recipes with Meghan, and Lilibet—who has beautiful long, red hair—starred in a promo photo for Meghan's new lifestyle brand, As ever.

Despite the challenges of raising two kids and building a business, Meghan shared on her podcast, "For me, it’s so important my kids see me as a working mom."