Meghan Markle Says She ‘Gained 65 Pounds’ While Pregnant With Archie and Lilibet

Meghan Markle is reflecting on her pregnancy experiences while carrying Archie and Lilibet, her two kids with Prince Harry.

“A friend just said to me the other day, they were like, ‘I just saw this picture I’d forgotten about when you were so pregnant with Archie,’” Meghan, 43, recalled during the Tuesday, May 27, episode of her “Confessions of a Female Founder” podcast. “I mean, I gained 65 pounds with both pregnancies.”

While pregnant with Archie, who was born in May 2019, the Duchess of Sussex wore her “five-inch pointy toed stilettos” to various events as she was still a London-based senior-working royal at the time.

“They’re like, ‘You have the most enormous bump, and your tiny little ankles are bracing themselves in these high heels.’ But all of my weight was in the front,” Meghan recalled. “How on Earth am I not just tipping, face-planting. I’m always clinging very closely to my husband, like ‘Please don’t let me fall.’”

Meghan attended several public-facing events when she was pregnant with Archie. Months after his birth, she and Prince Harry made the decision to leave the royal family and relocate to the United States in early 2020. Over a year later and settled in Montecito, Calif., the couple welcomed their daughter, Lilibet, in June 2021 — this time around, Meghan had no obligatory high-heels-only royal functions to attend.

Tuesday’s podcast, the last of the season, episode featured Meghan talking with Spanx founder Sara Blakely. The two discussed their respective roles as working mothers.

“The amount of what you have created, evolved through, the level of what you have done while having this many children all at that age,” Meghan said, referring to Blakely’s four kids: Lazer, 15, twins Lincoln and Charlie, 10, and Tepper, 9.

Meghan joked that she “always” remembers Blakely has a lot of kids.

“It’s something that I think people often forget,” she continued. “People forget that Lili’s 3 and Archie’s 5. You look at the past five, six years of my life. It’s with being pregnant or with a newborn or with a toddler, and then another one.”

Meghan offered an update on her two kids, calling them “so grown.” (Archie celebrated his 6th birthday earlier this month. The podcast episode appeared to be recorded prior to his birthday.)

The Duchess of Sussex has been offering fans more of a look at her home life with the two kids since returning to Instagram earlier this year. Meghan posted a rare photo of Archie on May 6 to celebrate his birthday.

“Our son. Our sun. Happy 6th birthday to Archie!” she shared via Instagram at the time. “Thank you for all of the love, prayers, and warm wishes for our sweet boy. He’s six!”