What Michelle Obama Said That Left Meghan Markle Speechless
Getting to be in the room and listen to a conversation between Meghan Markle and Michelle Obama is something that most people can only dream about. And while we couldn’t actually be in the room with the women, we got the next best thing.
The September issue of British Vogue features a question and answer session between the Duchess of Sussex and the former First Lady.
Markle said that she and Obama discussed the issue “over a casual lunch of chicken tacos and [her] ever-burgeoning bump.”
What advice did Obama give?
It’s safe to say that Obama is a busy woman. But despite her non-stop schedule, she put thought and effort into each answer that she sent Markle.
Markle saw Obama’s answers “as a thoughtful, reflective and beautifully curated narrative – a gentle reminder not of how but of why she has become such a globally respected public figure.”
Her responses reportedly left Markle speechless.
Mostly, Obama spoke about motherhood.
“Being a mother has been a masterclass in letting go,” she wrote when asked about what she had learned from motherhood. “Try as we might, there’s only so much we can control. And, boy, have I tried — especially at first. As mothers, we just don’t want anything or anyone to hurt our babies. But life has other plans. Bruised knees, bumpy roads, and broken hearts are part of the deal.”
She told the Duchess, who welcomed a child of her own in May, that motherhood was partially about not hovering over your children.
“Motherhood has taught me that, most of the time, my job is to give them the space to explore and develop into the people they want to be,” she said.
“Not who I want them to be or who I wish I was at that age, but who they are, deep inside. Motherhood has also taught me that my job is not to bulldoze a path for them in an effort to eliminate all possible adversity. But instead, I need to be a safe and consistent place for them to land when they inevitably fail; and to show them, again and again, how to get up on their own.”
What advice did Obama have for Markle and Prince Harry?
Obama continued, speaking of her experience raising babies.
“When Malia and Sasha were newborns, Barack and I could lose hours just watching them sleep,” she wrote. “We loved to listen to the little sounds they’d make — especially the way they cooed when they were deep into dreaming. Don’t get me wrong, early parenthood is exhausting. I’m sure you know a thing or two about that these days. But there is something so magical about having a baby in the house. Time expands and contracts; each moment holds its own little eternity.”
And she had specific advice for the Duchess and her husband.
“I’m so excited for you and Harry to experience that, Meghan,” she wrote. “Savour it all.”
Markle guest-editing Vogue
Markle was the first person to ever be asked to guest edit the September issue of British Vogue. The magazine’s September editions are the most read of each year. For this issue, Markle focused on women who she believed were “forces for change.” The cover features women from all walks of life, from authors, actresses, and boxers, to the prime minister of New Zealand.
