Meghan Markle has revealed she was an 'ugly duckling' as a child with no one to sit with at lunchtime at school. When speaking to actress and comedian Mindy Kaling for her new podcast series Archetypes, the Duchess admits that she kept herself busy with extracurricular activity so that she had something to do at break time.
The former Suits star told The Mindy Project creator about her "unconventional beauty" growing up, which left Mindy stunned. The pair were speaking for the third episode of the new Spotify podcast, which sees Meghan unpick female stereotypes with a guest speaker each week, and this time discussed the stigma attached to being a single woman.
Touching on her own experiences of 'always being the single one', Mindy said: "I grew up always feeling ugly, overweight, 'othered', and so, with my daughter, I'm always telling her that she's beautiful to the point where my friend BJ is like 'You can tell her other compliments!'".
Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up.
"Were you not the pretty one growing up?" Mindy then quizzed Meghan.
"No, oh god no," she responded. "Ugly ducking."
"I had massive frizzy curly hair and a huge gap in my teeth. I was the smart one - forever and ever and ever and ever. And then sort of grew up".
Astounded Mindy replied: "This is news to me... this is a revelation."
The Duchess, who recently returned to the UK for the One Young World summit in Manchester last night, explained: "I grew up in LA and I went to Hollywood Schoolhouse, you know?
"And then went to Immaculate Heart, an all-girls Catholic school, but 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.
"So I became the president of the multicultural club, the president of this, and by doing that, I had meetings at lunchtime, right, because I was always so busy."
Mindy, who confessed that she had assumed Meghan had been 'the hot girl who has her head screwed on right', responded: "I think that I certainly didn't know that about you and that's nice to know".
In the episode released on Tuesday, the pair speak candidly about the joys, challenges, and stigmas of Mindy's life as a single, unmarried woman and her decision to start a family on her own, the Spotify description states.
This episode also features New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister, who unpacks the many archetypes that have followed single women for generations, such as 'spinster'.
