Meghan says motherhood with Archie and Lili ‘not what I envisioned’ as Duchess takes swipe at royals

Speaking to Kitsch founder Cassandra Thurswell, the Duchess suggested there were "a lot of external things happening" during both her pregnancies and when her children were newborns, which affected her experience of motherhood.

Reflecting on her expectations of motherhood, Meghan told Thurswell: "I've always wanted to be a mum. I was like 'Oh gosh, I'm going to give a speech with a baby on my hip'.

"I had a whole vision – and then you fast forward… granted I had a lot of external things happening by the time I had both pregnancies and both babies. But it was not the way I envisioned it."

The comments appear to reference the difficulties she experienced as a working royal before stepping back from senior royal duties with Prince Harry when their son Archie was 10 months old amid the turmoil of Megxit.

The closest Meghan came to her vision of speaking with a baby in her arms was during the 2019 royal tour to South Africa, when five-month-old Archie met Archbishop Desmond Tutu with cameras present.

At the time, she noted the schedule was planned around Archie's feeding times, saying: "We're making it work. It's worth it."

However, behind the scenes, the Sussexes were struggling with royal life. At the end of the tour, Meghan gave an emotional interview to ITV, revealing her difficulties and saying: "Thank you for asking. Not many people have asked if I'm OK... It's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes."

The Duchess's podcast episode, released today, is the seventh in Meghan's Confessions of a Female Founder series.

During the conversation, Meghan and Thurswell discussed "how grit, intentional design, and a scrappy mindset were essential in transforming a humble start into a thriving global business".

Meghan revealed she first met Thurswell in 2009 through the businesswoman's cousin, who is a friend of the duchess.

At the time, Meghan was auditioning for acting roles, and Thurswell helped style her outfits, including the shoes she wore to her final audition for legal drama Suits.

Meghan emphasised the importance of her children seeing her as a "working mum".

She also compared gardening to running a business, saying: "Some seasons are for blooming, others are for planting seeds, but most of the work, especially early on, it's tending to the soil."

The gardening metaphor came just a day after the King and Queen visited the Chelsea Flower Show, where they met David Beckham and saw a rose named in Charles's honour.

Meghan, who often shares footage of herself in her Montecito garden, added: "Eventually, with a strong vision and all of that care on the details, oh, that garden will grow."

Interestingly, during the podcast, Thurswell referred to the Duchess as "Meghan Markle", but Meghan did not correct her. This stands in contrast to a previous incident on her Netflix series when she told actress Mindy Kaling: "You keep saying 'Meghan Markle' – you know, I'm Sussex now."

When Thurswell said, "I love that you call me Cassie... There's such a small handful of people that call me Cassie, and it's like my immediate family and Meghan Markle," the Duchess simply laughed and replied: "It's like Meg or M. It's the same thing. It's how we met all those years ago."