Meghan Markle Calls Herself An ‘Ugly Duckling’ While Bonding With Mindy Kaling!

Meghan Markle did not grow up as a princess — even though she might act like one now!

In the latest episode of her podcast, Archetypes, out on Tuesday, Meghan chatted with comedian Mindy Kaling all about the struggles of growing up, especially in a society that strongly prioritized marriage over staying single. Inneresting timing considering Mindy just addressed a long-standing rumor her children’s baby daddy might be ex and longtime friend B.J. Novak! (As if she can’t just be a badass single momma without worrying about a man!)

Related: Bethenny Frankel SLAMS Meghan Over Endless Royal Family Criticism

During the interview, the Duchess of Sussex revealed she was an “ugly duckling” in high school because her features weren’t yet considered desirable. She shared:

“Look, maybe not conventional beauty as it…now, maybe that would be seen as beautiful but massive frizzy curly hair and a huge gap in my teeth […] I was the smart one. Forever and ever and ever and ever. And, and then just sort of grew up.”

Proving her nerdy interests, she added how much she loved Archie comics growing up — but insisted her “son [Archie] is not named after Archie comic books.” Hah! Just a coincidence, then? Addressing the leading ladies in the Archie universe (as seen recently onscreen in Riverdale), she described herself as “way more Betty than Veronica,” explaining:

“I was the smart one, not the pretty one.”

The Suits alum had such a difficult time in high school she filled her time with clubs to avoid awkward lunches with no one to sit with! Can you believe it?! She revealed:

“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. And, and so I just became, I was like, okay, well then I’ll become the president of the Multicultural Club and the president of sophomore class and the president of this and French club. And, and by doing that, I had meetings at lunchtime. So I didn’t have to worry about who I would sit with or what I would do because I was always so busy.”

We would NOT have guessed she had a tough time fitting in at school! We mean, she literally married royalty! It was news to Mindy too, who was pleased to hear the actress getting so candid about her adolescence, responding:

“That makes me very emotional. And that’s, I’m happy that people know that because I think people see you and they’re like, oh, my gosh, like the wedding, the couture fittings for that and this and that. And I think that I certainly didn’t know that about you. And it’s nice to know.”

Mindy also didn’t feel attractive as a kid, noting she was a “dark-skinned Indian girl, overweight, glasses, in lily-white suburbs of Boston.” The women continued to connect over their experiences being “latchkey kids” growing up, too. As the daughter of immigrants, the 43-year-old The Office star understood feeling like an outsider as a child, adding:

“You know, I was that typical latchkey kid because my parents both worked and they’re immigrants. And there was, I think, it’s all just like your personality, right? Like, my personality loved freedom. And so for me, I loved just being able to read. You know, when I was a kid, it was like ‘establish roots in this country, make money,’ you know? And so, we were just at home, we weren’t allowed to watch TV, so we just had to read. And so, that’s, I really enjoyed that; I think that’s why I became a writer is because of that, like just like, the profound boredness that I had as a child where the, my only access point was, you know, was watching, was reading books and reading magazines if we had them.”

Similarly to the podcaster, she went through life feeling left out, the Sex Lives of College Girls creator noted:

“So I went through high school. No boyfriends. Heard about my friends kissing, falling in love, losing their virginity. College. Same. Nothing. Always a spectator. Watching things. By the way, I learned a lot from that. I learned how to, you know, so many of my shows right now are about young women and longing and feeling horny and feeling rejected. And I’ve learned a lot from that.”

It all happened for a reason! LOLz!

Related: Mariah Carey Calls Meghan A ‘Diva’ TO HER FACE On New Podcast!

Elsewhere in the conversation, Prince Harry’s wife slammed her education, which prioritized marriage over someone being single — made clear when she was given a graded homework assignment to plan a wedding! WTF?! Recalling the assignment in great detail, the mom of Archie and Lilibet told Mindy:

“I remember every little thing about it. I wanted it to be at The Bel-Air Hotel. And there was a swan lake, and I wanted the cake to be from Hanson’s Bakery. And the dress — oh my goodness, the dress was strapless and poofy and I’d seen it in a bridal magazine … and, and I bought it, I mean not, not the dress — I bought the bridal magazine because I took this project seriously. I wanted to get an ‘A.’ And I did, maybe I got an A-.”

“But my grade on this project is actually neither here nor there. Because what strikes me now — from my 40-something vantage point — is the fact that this project was even graded at all! The fact that this project even existed! At no point could you say, ‘Nope. My dream for the future is to be single.’ The message, even at my feminist all-girls school, was as traditional as it gets: first comes love, then comes marriage.”

SO wild!

How do you grade someone’s dream wedding?! It screams problematic!! Also, Mindy is proof you can lead a happy, fulfilled life without tying the knot!

Unable to have the conversation without throwing some jabs at the media and her royal family, Meghan went on to slam how people would talk about her relationship with the Prince at first, detailing:

“When I started dating my husband, we became engaged and everyone was just like, ‘Oh my god, you’re so lucky he chose you.’ And at a certain point, after you hear it a million times over, you’re like, ‘Well, I chose him too.’”

Her hubby was a true gentleman about it, she relayed gratefully:

“But thankfully, I have a partner who was countering that narrative for me and going, ‘They’ve got it all wrong. I’m the lucky one ’cause you chose me.’ But it’s, it is gendered and it’s archetyped and it’s stereotyped that… you’re so lucky. And it just feeds into this idea that you’re waiting for someone to tell you that you’re good enough, as opposed to knowing that you’re good enough on your own.”

A very valid point!! Who knew these two had so much in common?? Let us know your reactions (below)!

[Image via MEGA/WENN]