Meghan wrote an essay to mark her 33rd birthday in which she opened up about about how she used to “battle” with herself. Meghan, who is now the Duchess of Sussex after marrying Prince Harry last year, added that she found it difficult to fit in at school. She explained in her 2014 post on her now-defunct blog The Tig that being biracial made her feel left out at times.

The Duchess wrote: “My 20s were brutal – a constant battle with myself, judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/ as hip/ as smart/ as ‘whatever’ as everyone else. 

“My teens were even worse – grappling with how to fit in, and what that even meant.

“My high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, the Filipino and Latina girls. 

“Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between.”

She added that she used to fill her time with activities so she would not have to eat lunch on her own. 

She said: “Everyday during lunch, I busied myself with meetings – French club, student body, whatever one could possibly do between noon and 1pm – I was there.

“Not so that I was more involved, but so that I wouldn’t have to eat alone.”

During Meghan’s teen years, she not only struggled with fitting in at school, she also had issues with her home life.

Her parents – Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle – had separated when she was just a toddler and divorced five years later.

She initially lived with her mother during the week and her father at weekends, but later lived full-time with her father. 

One of her teachers, Christine Knudsen, explained to royal biographer Andrew Morton that her parents’ separation affected Meghan.

She said: “I know that it was difficult for her – one parent over here and one over there, and neither of them particularly fond of each other.”

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However, it was also at high school that Meghan got into acting, performing in plays at her own school – Immaculate Heart – but also at other schools, such as St Francis High School, an all-boys Catholic school. 

According to a director of one of these plays – Oedipus Rex – Meghan was actually quite popular. 

He told Mr Morton: “She certainly had a fan club. Quite a few of the boys had crushes on her.”

Meghan was even Homecoming Queen for a joint school prom in 1998 – a far cry from the girl who felt like she didn’t fit in.

The names of the finalists were read out on a hastily-erected stage at the 50-yard line during the half time interval of a St Francis American football match. 

The school yearbook described Meghan’s crowning, saying: “The princesses were escorted by our knights, and the red carpet ceremony commenced. 

“Last year’s Queen Carla Suarez presented Meghan Markle with the crown and the entire court processed off the field in classic convertibles.”

Meghan’s blog post added that in her 30s she finally accepted herself and learned to be happy with herself.

She left the reader with some wise words about self-compassion, as well as doing nice things for others. 

She wrote: “So for my birthday, here’s what I would like as a gift: I want you to be kind to yourself. I want you to challenge yourself.

“I want you to stop gossiping, to try a food that scares you, to buy a coffee for someone just because, to tell someone you love them… and then to tell yourself right back. 

“I want you to find your happiness. I did. And it’s never felt so good. I am enough.”

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