Meghan Markle Says She Would ‘Ask People to Tell the Truth’ If She Could Rewrite Her Public Story

The Duchess of Sussex shares her insight on the next episode of ‘Aspire with Emma Grede’

NEED TO KNOW

  • Meghan Markle is set to address what she would change about the public narrative around her on the next episode of the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast
  • The Duchess of Sussex and her husband Prince Harry have spoken openly about the media mistreatment they experienced before stepping back from their royal roles in 2020
  • In a teaser, Meghan says, “I would ask people to tell the truth”

Meghan Markle revealed what she would do differently on the next episode of Emma Grede’s podcast.

It was announced on June 16 that the Duchess of Sussex, 43, will appear on Aspire with Emma Grede in an episode debuting on Tuesday, June 17. As seen in a preview shared by Vanity Fair, Grede, 42, asked Meghan about the public’s perception of her and what she would change if she could. Meghan was an actress on Suits when she met and began dating Prince Harry in 2016. The couple wed in 2018, and Meghan embraced a working royal role alongside her husband before they stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California.

“I wanted to ask you a little bit about the public narrative, because when you sign up to be an actress, you know that people are going to start recognizing you, they’re going to start speaking to you on the street. But that’s very different from what you have now,” Grede, the founding partner and chief product officer of SKIMS and CEO and co-founder of Good American, asked Meghan.

“It is, Emma! It’s very different,” Meghan said, and they both laughed.

Grede framed her next question by prefacing that she wished to express it in the “best way” and asked Meghan, “If you could rewrite your public narrative from scratch, is there anything that you would do differently?”

“Yes, I would ask people to tell the truth,” Meghan said.

After stepping back from their working royal roles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken openly about the media mistreatment they experienced as working royals and how they felt the palace didn’t protect them from the firestorm. Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan shared their side of the story in a CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and confessionals within the 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan on Netflix, before the Duke of Sussex opened up more in his 2023 memoir, Spare.

Prince Harry and Meghan have since established a new chapter in her home state of California, where they are raising their children Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.

Meghan had a busy spring with the premiere of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, the launch of her brand As Ever and the debut of her podcast Confessions of a Female Founder from Lemonada Media.

Vanity Fair reported that Meghan and Grede will discuss the Duchess of Sussex’s entrepreneurial journey, launching her lifestyle brand As ever, the challenges of getting a startup off the ground and her first business venture of selling scrunchies as a young girl.

In an exclusive PEOPLE preview of Meghan’s upcoming appearance on Aspire with Emma Grede from Audacy, the two spoke about the Duchess of Sussex’s now-viral “baby mama dance” video she posted to Instagram as a throwback on Princess Lilibet’s June 4 birthday.

Grede said she did a “little secret cheer” after she saw Meghan’s video filmed in the delivery room before Princess Lilibet was born in 2021, and the Duchess of Sussex said it meant much that she could now share those moments at her own discretion.

“That was four years ago,” Meghan said to put the clip into context. “So it’s also a really great reminder that with all the noise or whatever people do, there’s still a whole life — a real, authentic, fun life — that’s happening behind the scenes.”

Meghan Markle appears on Emma Grede's podcast
Emme Grede and Meghan Markle on the “Aspire with Emma Grede” podcast.Aspire with Emma Grede

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“I’m just grateful that now, being back on social as well, I have a place where I can share it on my own terms,” she added, referring to her personal social media handle.

The Duchess of Sussex rejoined Instagram in January, logging back online for the first time in five years. Meghan shuttered her personal social media pages when her courtship with Prince Harry intensified in 2017, and the couple closed their @SussexRoyal Instagram handle when they stepped back from their royal roles in 2020.

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