Meghan Markle shares sorority stories from her days at Northwestern University
Meghan Markle a candid conversation on growing up, identity, and learning to embrace their natural hair textures
Meghan Markle just got real about college life, sorority sisters, and burning flat irons and fans are loving this rare glimpse into her past.
In the latest episode of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, sat down with longtime friend and celebrity colourist Kadi Lee for a candid conversation on growing up, identity, and learning to embrace their natural hair textures.
Kadi, who is the co-founder of LA’s Highbrow Hippie salon, reflected on her experience attending the prestigious Spelman College, while Meghan opened up about life at Northwestern University, where she studied theatre and international studies and pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma.
That’s when Meghan dropped a hilarious and deeply relatable confession: “I don’t even think they made plug-in flat irons at the time,” she said, describing how she styled her hair with a stove-heated straightener back in the early 2000s.
“I had the little stove, with the flat iron that would go in, have a paper towel on the side… You’d pull it out, it would have the little scorch marks.”
“I remember most of the girls in the sorority who were not Black saying, ‘What’s that smell? Is hair burning?’” Meghan laughed. “It was just what you would do to figure out how to grapple with this texture of hair.”
The Duchess of Sussex, who is biracial, has previously spoken about the challenges of navigating hair care growing up.
In a 2022 episode of Archetypes featuring Mariah Carey, Meghan recalled being “shellacked” with heavy hair grease as a child, saying she often struggled to find the right products and care techniques for her curly, thick hair.
She also lovingly remembered her grandmother Jeanette, who used to do her hair at home: “She’d go, ‘Just hold on to the sink,’ and I would grip my little hands on both sides,” Meghan recalled, joking that there was “no luxury of being tender-headed” back then.
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