NEED TO KNOW

  • Meghan Markle spoke about how the media scrutiny she faces may ultimately affect her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
  • Meghan shares Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, with husband Prince Harry
  • The Duchess of Sussex, 44, said she wants people to know that she is “a real person”

Meghan Markle is speaking candidly about the intense media scrutiny she faces — and how it could affect her children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, shared her thoughts in an interview with Emily Chang on The Circuit, part of Bloomberg Originals, released Aug. 26. The conversation coincided with the premiere of season 2 of her Netflix lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan.

When asked to choose one thing for people to know to truly understand her, Meghan said, “I think when I sit with it for a second here, I just want people to know that I’m a real person.”

“And I think a lot of that gets lost in what can be super dehumanizing,” she continued. “When you look at the clickbait culture and how much is written about someone, it’s like, no, my friends have to read those things.”

“Like I have real best friends, the same one since I was 17,” she said. “I’m a real mom. I have to go, I choose to go and do school pickup and drop off, but I do that under a landscape that is created that forgets that I’m a real person. And how would you want someone to treat a real person in your life that you cared about or loved or respected? And so there’s something about that, I think, that often gets lost.”

(Left) Meghan Markle and Princess Lilibet; (Right) Prince Archie.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex/Instagram

“And even though earlier I was saying you can compartmentalize, like I say, ‘That’s a caricature.’ Yes. But my kids will see those magazines and we all know moms gossip,” Meghan said. “And so I have to make a choice to move through the world as myself in spite of all the noise that’s created. But maybe there would be less noise if people remembered that I’m a real person.”

“You’re a real person,” Chang said.

“Pinch me. I’m real. She’s real. She’s a real person,” the Duchess of Sussex said.

Meghan and Prince Harry moved to the Duchess’ home state of California after stepping back from their royal roles in the U.K. in 2020, and she previously told PEOPLE about how their hometown of Montecito is “protective” of her family.

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“Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do, despite however unique our situation is,” she said about the dynamic. 

For Meghan, normal looks like nights out with Prince Harry and their friends.

“We go to a lot of dinners, and not just in people’s homes or private rooms; we just go into the restaurant,” Meghan said. “I really love that we can just have fun.”

The Duchess of Sussex spoke with candor in conversation with The Circuit, where she also revealed the royal rule that felt “inauthentic” to her and clarified what her legal name is after speculation around her surname became a talking point in season one of With Love.