Being pregnant is difficult enough, but carrying out your motherhood journey in the public eye is another story. On Tuesday, May 27, Meghan Markle looked back on her first pregnancy in the final episode of her new podcast, "Confessions of a Female Founder." The Duchess of Sussex spoke with Spanx founder Sara Blakely on the Lemonada Media show, recalling how being a senior member of the Royal Family came with some uncomfortable footwear.
Blakely recently launched a sneaker/heel hybrid called Sneex, and Meghan recalled what it was like wearing stilettos while pregnant with Prince Archie. The duchess, who was still living in the U.K. and serving as a working royal with Prince Harry, often made appearances in towering pumps during her pregnancy, which spanned from late 2018 to May 2019.
"A friend just said to me the other day, they were like, ‘I just saw this picture I’d forgotten about when you were so pregnant with Archie,'" Meghan said, revealing she "gained 65 pounds" both times she was pregnant.
"I always wear my five-inch, pointy-toed stilettos," she continued, adding her friend exclaimed, "'You have the most enormous bump and your tiny little ankles are bracing themselves in these high heels.'"
"But all of my weight was in the front," the duchess said. "So you’re just going, how on earth am I not just tipping, you know, face planting? I was clinging very closely to my husband, like, 'Please don’t let me fall.'"
While Prince Archie, now six, was born while the couple lived in Windsor and was presented to the media in an official photo call (heels included), Meghan could move through pregnancy more casually when she gave birth to 3-year-old Princess Lilibet in Santa Barbara, California.
Meghan still wears her signature heels these days, but mixes things up with casual moments at home. The Duchess of Sussex shared a sweet moment with Lilibet in an Instagram Reel on Tuesday as they donned matching beekeeper suits and gathered honey in their backyard—no formalwear required.
