The Duchess of Sussex was left speechless as a podcast guest revealed the trauma of her daughter dying at a young age.
Meghan Markle had been talking to makeup artist and medical advocate Victoria Jackson in the latest episodes of her Archetypes programme.
During the recording, Victoria, one of the Sussex’s closest friends in their new life in California, spoke of her daughter Ali’s illness which started with a headache near her eye.
The youngster tragically died of an autoimmune disease known as neuromyelitis optica (NMO) aged 13 in 2008, the Daily Express reported.
Victoria said: “It's sort of like every parent's worst nightmare all of a sudden,. You have a child who hasn't even been sick, you know?
"One day we're out and about, and she starts telling me she has an eyeball headache and she's starting to lose some vision.
"And I just think she has an eye infection and, you know, 'we'll go to the eye doctor tomorrow. Here take a Tylenol. You'll be okay.'
"And that kind of very long horrible week from finding out that it wasn't an eye infection, but an optic neuritis - which was an inflammation of her optic nerve - and going to see the neurologist and finding out after a blood test, for what would be a rare disease that she ultimately has.
"And they tell me that she has four years to live."
The death of her daughter prompted Victoria and her husband, Bill Guthy, to start Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation to champion basic scientific research to find new treatments and ultimately a cure for NMO.
Victoria said: "Immediately in that moment, my life changed and I went, as I say, from mascara to medicine, and I got myself to the Mayo Clinic and I met the only doctor at the time who was doing any research, which they said, was this very rare disease."
Victoria continued: "So anyway, he was doing some research and I said: 'Hey, you don't know me, but I've a lot of cosmetics and hey, I make lip gloss'.
"I can cure this."
The sad tale left the Duchess speechless, but she later said in a voice note: “Can't even imagine as a mum hearing that your daughter has four years to live.
"Her daughter Ali was only 13 at the time of her diagnosis and the disease neuromyelitis optica is an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system and it can cause eye pain and vision loss as well as weakness, numbness, or paralysis in the arms and legs."
