Meghan offers first interview since Queen Elizabeth’s death

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is opening up about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, calling her the “most shining example” of female leadership.

The former “Suits” star and wife of Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, spoke out for the first time since Elizabeth’s death in an interview with Variety, published Wednesday. The longest-serving British monarch died last month at 96.

“There’s been such an outpouring of love and support. I’m really grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him, especially during that time,” Meghan said.

“What’s so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like. I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her,” she told the publication.

“It’s been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said, ‘Now she’s reunited with her husband,’” said Meghan, who along with Harry stepped down as full-time working members of the royal family in 2020 and moved to California.

Meghan said she “felt fortunate” to have known Elizabeth and described the “nice warmth” she shared with the matriarch of the royal family.

Asked about the biggest misconceptions she faced about herself, the 41-year-old mom of two said, “I think that what happens, looking in from the outside, when there is this much noise, is that you become dehumanized. But if you remember that someone is a human being, then you don’t treat them, talk about them, look at them the same way.”

She said her hope with her “Archetypes” podcast, which she launched on Spotify in August, is “that people come out thinking, ‘Oh! She’s a real person! She laughs and asks questions and approaches things with curiosity.’” 

The former actor also reflected on her time in Hollywood, before the “Me Too” and “Oscars So White” movements, which shined a light on sexual misconduct and a lack of representation and diversity in the industry.

“We didn’t have a name for it at that time. There were just certain things that were accepted,” Meghan said.

“If there was any discomfort, you just dealt with it. It forced a lot of women to live with this idea of staying silent, not being disruptive, not giving voice to the things that might create concern or discomfort.”

“For me, I had tried for so long to land on a show, filming all these pilots, wondering if they would get picked up. All of season one on ‘Suits,’ I was convinced I was going to get recast. All the time,” she said.  “It got to a point where the creator was like, ‘Why are you so worried about this?’”

But the Archewell Foundation co-founder said she has no plans to ever getting back into acting.

“No. I’m done,” she said. “I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not.”