If you're a reader from across the pond, did you see the Duchess of Sussex on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today? I've been following thanks to clips shared on YouTube and generous tweeters. Meghan walked out to resounding applause against the backdrop of Lizzo's 'Good as Hell'.
Meghan sat down for a relaxed and fun conversation, sharing Thanksgiving plans: "I love to cook. We'll be home and just sort of relax and settle in. It's our second Thanksgiving at home in California, so it will be nice." Meghan revealed Archie "loves" being a big brother. "Everyone tells you, someone told H and I, 'When you have one kid it's a hobby, and two children is parenting.' Suddenly we realized, 'Oh, right.' Everyone talks about what it's like for the second child, but no one talks about the adjustment for the first child when the second one comes along. I think they have this moment of, 'Oh, this is fun. Oh, this how it is now.'"
"When you have one kid it's a hobby, and two kids is parenting" - #MeghanMarkle talked about being a mom to Archie and Lillibet while appearing on @TheEllenShow pic.twitter.com/ZybvDIC70D
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) November 18, 2021
A special glimpse of Archie at the 'Chick Inn' in his adorable Hunter Peppa Pig wellies and carrying his egg basket :)
"Obviously, we are neighbors so we see each other a lot," DeGeneres said. "I love that you all moved here, and Harry is loving it, right?"
"He loves it," Meghan responded.
"What does he love about California?" the host asked.
"Well, we moved here during lockdown, exactly when things shut down, so we've just been able to spend a lot of time at home and creating our home, but I think it's just the lifestyle and the weather is pretty great," Meghan said. "But we're just happy."
Meghan revealed she was a huge fan of Andie McDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral when she about ten years old. So much so, it inspired a hairstyle change. The Duchess said, "The reason my hair looked like that back then was because I was obsessed with Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral. All I wanted was that perfect curly little haircut. So I asked my mom, and we went to the hairdresser, and on that first day I was like, 'This is amazing! I look like Andie MacDowell.' Then it was as though everyone forgot to tell me, 'You have ethnic hair, you are not going to look like Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral.' I went to school and they said I looked like Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. It was a real bummer."
Meghan recalled attending a Halloween party with Harry, Princess Eugenie and Jack in Toronto before their relationship became public: "The four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple. We were able to just sort of have one final, fun night out."
When they were keeping their relationship a secret, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, snuck out to a Halloween party. pic.twitter.com/8TD3xT8NBU
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) November 18, 2021
Speaking about Lili's first Halloween, Meghan said:
'"We wanted to do something fun for the kids, and then the kids were just not into it at all," Meghan said.
She added that Archie had a dinosaur costume but only wore the outfit for "about five minutes."
"Not even five minutes," DeGeneres, who spent the holiday with Meghan and Prince Harry, chimed in. "Finally Harry talked him into putting the head on."
Meanwhile, Lili was dressed up as a skunk, "like Flower from Bambi," Meghan described it.'
Meghan said Lili is teething at the moment, telling Ellen, "They might be the best sleeper in the world, and the moment that that's happening, you have so much sympathy for them."
Meghan also discussed her recent efforts surrounding paid leave. The Guardian reports:
“I think that people truly forget, or don’t even know, that in this country, it’s one of the only six countries in the entire world and the only wealthy nation in the entire world that does not mandate and have a federal paid leave programme,” Meghan said.
“Everybody knows, especially if you have had a child and even if you haven’t, you know how hard it is and how critical it is in those first few weeks, if not months, to be together as a family.
“And the fact that we don’t offer that here is something that now, as a mom of two, I will do everything that I can to make sure that we can implement that for people.”
We saw Meghan outside the studio pranking local vendors before Ellen came out and revealed the news. Think of phrases such as "Let Mommy taste some. My boo loves hot sauce", "Mommy wants some heat", and watch out for moments with squats, crystals and meowing.
The Duchess recalled a unique way of getting into her car when she was auditioning before Suits.
Meghan chatted about The Bench stemming from watching Harry as a father. "It was about my observation of him and, you know, him being a dad, which is the most beautiful thing to watch". Meghan added: Once it was shared with a couple of friends and people that we were close with they said: ‘No, this resonates for me too because it feels really inclusive and there’s representation and it’s just a sweet love story between a family,’ and so I said: ‘Okay, let’s turn it into a children’s book.' I made sure that all of those pieces of it, especially the softer side of masculinity, the softer side of fatherhood, I tried to include it in there, and made sure everyone could see themselves in these pages."
A highlight came when Meghan invited a guest -- hairdresser and mother Brittany Starks -- to join her on stage. Over the summer, Brittany decided she wanted to give back to her community and offered to braid the hair of children for free in order to support single parents like herself and to boost the confidence of local kids. Speaking to People she said: "I know how my daughter feels when she gets her hair done. It boosts her confidence, and it just makes her feel good about herself. She has an awesome day afterward." The Ellen DeGeneres Show's charitable partner TisBest donated $20,000 -- an amount matched by Meghan and Harry. Meghan told her: "We were so touched by your story." Click here if you would like to support Brittany's Go Fund Me.
Meghan wore a chic Oscar de la Renta blouse for the appearance.
'The Hunter Coats long, streamlined silhouette is finished with a turn-back hem for easy tailoring without compromising its intended fit and fabric quality. It's a collarless, full-length style that is perfectly clean and simple, finished with flat on-seam pockets and an understated self-tie belt at the waist. The Hunter Coat is crafted in the same luxurious wool-cashmere blend as our best-selling Dylan Coat from the Classics Collection, but in soft, muted ivory.'
