Meghan Markle shuts down ‘Duchess Difficult’ label on podcast

Meghan Markle is shutting down the “Duchess Difficult” label.

The nickname, which was first coined by the Daily Express, began after rumors swirled in 2018 that Markle had “dictatorial” behaviors like sending emails at the crack of dawn and causing an aide to quit.

Now, she’s taking to her podcast “Archetypes” to hit back. On the latest episode, titled “Upending the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Myth,” the Duchess of Sussex discussed the need for her to set boundaries.

“You’re allowed to set a boundary, you’re allowed to be clear,” the 41-year-old royal stated. “That does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult — it makes you clear.”

Markle said she “makes a choice” to be “grounded” because “things are going to be said” no matter what she does.

She reminisced on watching Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, being sworn into the bench, remembering how the judge showed “restraint” during the hearings. 

Markle’s guest on Tuesday’s episode, talk show host Ziwe Fumudoh, praised Jackson for “doing a wonderful job” handling the hearings.

“There is a pressure, I think, to do that not just for herself, but to do that for all of us,” the Duchess responded. “Which is the same way, you’re saying you carrying yourself and I think … You make a choice.”

“You make a choice to be as grounded as possible in what we share, because of all the things that are going to be said no matter what,” she continued.

Markle also confessed to Fumudoh that she finds herself “cowering and tiptoeing into a room” out of fear of being perceived negatively in a workplace situation.

Fumudoh shared that a colleague described her as “very particular” and that she took it as a compliment, to which Markle responded: “You’re allowed to be particular.”

“Women in the workplace … how you show up in the workplace, how you’re conceived, misconceived or portrayed … you can receive it that way, but if he describes you that way to someone else, they go, ‘Oh, what does that mean?’ ”

“I think a high tide raises all ships,” she continued. “We’re all going to succeed, so let’s make sure it’s really great because it’s a shared success for everybody.”

Markle went on to tell Fumudoh that she has to remind herself to just “say the thing that you need.”

“The thing I find the most embarrassing is when you’re saying a sentence, and the intonation goes up — like it’s a question,” Markle confessed. “And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop stop, like whispering and tiptoeing around it.’ ”