Meghan Markle’s fairy-tale romance wasn’t all fun and games.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, noticed a double standard as soon as she began dating Prince Harry in 2016, she explained in the first episode of her “Archetype” podcast on Tuesday with guest Serena Williams.
“I don’t remember ever personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word
‘ambitious’ until I started dating my now-husband,” Markle told listeners.
“Apparently ambition is a terrible, terrible thing, for a woman. That is, according to some,” she continued. “Since I’ve felt the negativity behind it, it’s [been] really hard to un-feel it.”
The “Deal or No Deal” alum noted that she “can’t unsee it, either, in the millions of girls and women who make themselves smaller – so much smaller – on a regular basis.”
Williams agreed with Markle, speaking to the “Suits” alum about the double standards she’s experienced over the years as a female athlete.
The Grand Slam champion, who revealed earlier this month that she will be retiring from her tennis career, specifically detailed her 2004 US Open Quarterfinals match against Jennifer Capriati.
At the time, her ball was continuously called out of bounds despite being in the lines, which led to a tiff with the ref.
The 40-year-old tennis pro was called “aggressive” and accused of having “meltdowns” while men in similar situations were deemed “passionate” players.
Williams said that she “didn’t deserve” that treatment, explaining how it led her to lose herself.
“I remember playing in Australia years, years later, [and] I just didn’t have the Serena in me because I was afraid,” she recalled. “I was afraid to be Serena because of all the experiences that I’ve had.
“I ended up losing a match because I was afraid to challenge, or to be myself,” Williams continued. “I can’t win being someone different, I have to win being Serena.”
As mothers, she and Markle are now also familiar with double standards in parenting.
“The [difference] between how men and women are treated after having kids is
so, so real,” said Markle, who is the mother of Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1. “I’ve felt it.”
The actress reflected on the 2019 fire in her then-4-month-old son’s nursery, explaining that despite being “shaken” by the incident and left “in tears,” she had to pretend everything was all right at a royal engagement.
“Part of the humanizing and the breaking through of these labels and these archetypes and these boxes that we’re put into is having some understanding on the human moments behind the scenes that people might not have any awareness of and to give each other a break,” Markle said.
Williams chimed in, adding that no one really knows what’s going on behind the scenes when she’s trying to balance her career with her 4-year-old daughter, Olympia, whom she shares with husband Alexis Ohanian.
“I would drop anything at any time to whatever I had to do for Olympia,” Williams said. “[In the] middle of a Grand Slam final, I would leave if I had to.”
