What Advice Did Michelle Obama Give Meghan Markle?

Source: The Cut

The September issue of British Vogue – guest-edited by Meghan Markle – has officially hit newsstands, and in the special issue titled “Forces For Change,” Markle features an interview with former First Lady, Michelle Obama. During the Q&A session, Markle asked about everything from motherhood to female empowerment, and the Duchess of Sussex also revealed the advice Obama gave her when she became a royal.

In the introduction, Markle writes that she talked with the former First Lady “over a casual lunch of chicken tacos,” and then Mrs. Obama talked about the things she has learned from being a mom.

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She called motherhood a “masterclass in letting go” because you have to learn that you can’t control everything, which is something she tried to do at first. Mrs. Obama explained that mothers don’t want anything or anyone hurting their babies, but sometimes life has other plans.

From bruised knees to broken hearts, moms have to watch their kids go through a lot, and what has humbled her is “seeing the resilience” of her daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Mrs. Obama says that motherhood has taught her that her job is to give her children space to explore and develop into the people they want to be, instead of who she wants them to be, or who she wishes she was at their age.

“Motherhood has also taught me that my job is not to bulldoze a path for them in an effort to eliminate all possible adversity,” explained Obama. “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.”

Markle and Obama knew each other before meeting for this interview, and the former FLOTUS revealed that she gave the Duchess of Sussex some advice when she joined the royal family.

“Like me, Meghan probably never dreamt that she’d have a life like this, and the pressure you feel – from yourself and from others – can sometimes feel like a lot. So my biggest piece of advice would be to take some time and don’t be in a hurry to do anything,” Obama told Good Housekeeping.  “I spent the first few months in the White House mainly worrying about my daughters, making sure they were off to a good start at school and making new friends before I launched into any more ambitious work.”

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Obama says that she thinks it okay to take some time, and Markle has an amazing opportunity to do good with the platform she has. She can also maximize her impact on others, as well as her own happiness if she focuses on things that resonate with her personally.

In addition to Markle’s interview with Obama, the cover of the September issue features 15 women who are “reshaping public life for global good” and who were personally chosen by Markle.