Meghan Markle Just Shared That She Is 43% Nigerian

Meghan Markle’s podcast, Archetypes, has already given us so much insight into the Duchess of Sussex’s life. Speaking to actor Ziwe in the Spotify exclusive podcast, titled “Upending the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Myth,” which also featured actor and producer Issa Rae, Markle revealed that she is 43% Nigerian. “I just had my genealogy done a couple years ago,” the Duchess explained.

“Oh, this is huge!” Ziwe replied enthusiastically. “Igbo, Yoruba, do we know?” The comedian is of Nigerian descent herself. “I’m going to start to dig deeper into all of this because anyone I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are just like what!” Adding that this is “huge for our community,” Ziwe continued, “no, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my aunt Uzo. So this is great.”

Markle has previously spoken about being biracial, but had never delved deeper into her roots. “Being biracial paints a blurred line that is equal parts staggering and illuminating,” she wrote in a 2015 essay in Elle magazine. “While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”

In September 2019, during her and Princes Harry’s royal tour of Africa, the Duchess said: “Just on a personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister.”

The podcast episode begins with the findings of internet scholar Safiya Noble, and leaves listeners with a clip of Dr. Maya Angelou reading her iconic poem “Still I Rise.” Noble’s Algorithms Of Oppression details how Google autocomplete finishes the statement “why are Black women so...” with options including: loud, mean, and angry.

Calling out the “angry Black woman” trope, Markle said there’s a difference between being “difficult” and being “clear”. Rae said she took her friend calling her “particular” as a compliment, Meghan added: “I’m particular... You’re allowed to set a boundary, you’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.”