Did Meghan Markle take veiled swipe at Royals? Duchess tells fans ‘be yourself’ in first podcast since Queen’s death

MEGHAN Markle today urged fans to “be themselves no matter what” in her first Spotify podcast since the death of the Queen.

The Duchess of Sussex told listeners to disregard “societal frameworks” and ignore the “loud voice coming from a small place”.

After taking a four-week break, Meghan looked happy to be back on air with her own podcast.

But listeners were later left wondering if she took a veiled swipe at the Royal Family during a discussion about defining ourselves.

Meghan said: “You want to be weird, or sponge-like, be silly or fierce or curious, or even self doubting or unsure some days and strong and brave and others. Whatever it is that’s up to you.

“Just be yourself no matter what any societal framework or archetype or loud voice coming from a small place tells you you should be – be yourself.”

Meghan has previously been critical of life after joining the firm, including the claim she married a prince and lost her voice, just like Little Mermaid’s Ariel.

And in a tell-all chat in The Cut the duchess claimed she had “felt the negativity” of being labelled “ambitious” after joining the Royal Family.

Meghan said she had to fit into a role when she was a working royal, suggesting she was constantly told what to wear and say.

In documents seen by , Samantha claimed Meghan spun a “rags to royalty” narrative about herself which she claims is false.

During her first podcast, the Duchess also discussed the “Dragon Lady” stereotype with journalist Lisa Ling and comedian Margaret Cho.

She began by talking about her experience of growing up in Los Angeles which was “full of culture that you could see, feel, hear and taste on a daily basis” and said she had a “real love” of getting to know other cultures.

In her podcast, Meghan spoke of going to a Korean spa with her mother as a teenager, adding: “It’s a very humbling experience for a girl going through puberty because you enter a room with women from ages nine to maybe 90, all walking around naked and waiting to get a body scrub on one of these tables that are all lined up in a row.

“All I wanted was a bathing suit.

“Once I was over that adolescent embarrassment, my mom and I, we would go upstairs we would sit in a room and we would have a steaming bowl of the most delicious noodles.”

Meghan said she was not aware of the stigmas faced by women of Asian descent until many years later.

The duchess said: “The Dragon Lady, the East Asian temptress whose mysterious foreign allure is scripted as both tantalising and deadly.

“This has seeped into a lot of our entertainment. But this toxic stereotyping of women of Asian descent, it doesn’t just end once the credits roll.”

Meghan did not mention Her Majesty at any point in the podcast – but its understood it had been recorded before her passing.

Harry and Meghan signed the £18million podcast project with audio giant Spotify in late 2020.

Three episodes of the audio series have been released since its launch on August 23, featuring conversations with tennis player , pop star , and actress and producer .

Meghan and  signed a lucrative deal with the audio streaming giant to host and produce podcasts, estimated to be worth around 25 million US dollars (£18 million), in late 2020.