3 of the Most Memorable Moments From Meghan Markle’s ‘Archetypes’ Interview with Mariah Carey

Meghan Markle and Mariah Carey’s Archetypes conversation wasn’t without some stand-out moments. In the Aug. 30 episode of the Duchess of Sussex’s podcast, similar to the Archetypes premiere with Serena Williams, both women offered some memorable quotes. Ahead, learn what they had to say about the “diva” label, growing up biracial, and why the Grammy winner was “so formative” for Meghan.

1. Meghan Markle shared on ‘Archetypes’ that Mariah Carey had been ‘so formative’ for her: ‘Someone kind of looks like me’

In the second installment of Archetypes titled, “The Duality of Diva with Mariah Carey,” Meghan explained the Grammy winner had been an important figure in her life growing up. 

“You were so formative for me,” she told the “Obsessed” singer via Spotify. “Representation matters so much.” 

Meghan continued, saying that as a biracial woman it meant a lot to her to see someone resembling her.

“But when you are a woman and you don’t see a woman who looks like you somewhere in a position of power or influence, or even just on the screen — because we know how influential media is — you came onto the scene, I was like ‘Oh, my gosh. Someone kind of looks like me,’” she said.

2. Meghan Markle said she was ‘treated like a Black woman’ when she started dating Prince Harry

While discussing their experiences as “light-skinned” biracial women, Meghan shared she felt she existed in the “in-between.” 

“I think for us, it’s very different because we’re light-skinned. You’re not treated as a Black woman. You’re not treated as a white woman. You sort of fit in between,” she said. 

Meghan went on, adding she noticed a shift in how her ethnicity was perceived when she began dating the Duke of Sussex. “Then I started to understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman. Because up until then, I had been treated as a mixed woman. And things really shifted,” she said.

“That’s an interesting thing — a mixed woman,” Carey replied. “Because I always thought it should be OK to say, ‘I’m mixed.’ It should be OK to say that, but people want you to choose.”

3. Mariah Carey said on the ‘Archetypes’ podcast that Meghan Markle ‘sometimes’ has ‘diva moments’

Carey and Meghan’s memorable moments on Archetypes continued with their discussion on the “diva” label. Particularly, when the “Honey” singer said Meghan has “diva moments.” 

“You give us diva moments sometimes, Meghan. Don’t even act like …” Carey said, as Meghan jokingly protested. “It’s the visual. It’s the visual. A lot of it is the visual,” Carey replied when Meghan asked for an example. “But let’s pretend that you weren’t so beautiful and didn’t have the whole thing and didn’t often have gorgeous ensembles. You wouldn’t maybe get as much diva.”

“My mind genuinely was just spinning with what nonsense she must have read or clicked on to make her say that,” Meghan later told listeners. “I just kept thinking in that moment, ‘Was my girl crush coming to a quick demise? Does she actually not see me?'”

“So she must have felt my nervous laughter and you all would have heard it too, and she jumped right in to make sure I was crystal clear when she said ‘diva,’ she was talking about the way that I dress, the posture, the clothing. The quote-unquote fabulousness, as she sees it.”

“She meant diva as a compliment, but I heard it as a dig. I heard it as the word diva as I think of it,” she explained. “But in that moment as she explained to me, she meant it as chic, aspirational.”

“How one word can mean something very different for each of us, it’s mind-blowing to me,” Meghan concluded. 

Next up on Archetypesis episode 3 with guest Mindy Kaling.