Meghan Markle 'begged' for British tabloid exposure to boost her profile years before she met Harry, claims journalist
Meghan Markle's recent interview for ITV's documentary 'Harry & Meghan: An African Journey' about the incessant attention from the media and how she wasn't ready for any of it painted a sympathetic image of the 'Suits' actor.
However, it has now come to light that the actor was, in fact, "determined" to raise her profile in the UK.
According to Katie Hind, the showbusiness editor at The Mail on Sunday, Meghan wasn't always so shy of the spotlight — and actually "begged me to get her in the tabloids".
Hind says the 38-year-old Duchess of Sussex met her at London's Soho in November 2013. Hind was at this time an editor and columnist at the Sunday People.
Meghan's UK publicist kept at her for a meet with Markle despite Hind not having heard at all about the actor or her show 'Suits'.
Hind said, "Keen to make a name in Britain, her UK publicist had all but begged me – then a showbusiness journalist for a red-top newspaper – to meet the actress for a drink."
She added, "It soon became clear that Meghan was determined to raise her profile – even if it was with an inconsequential 80-word piece tagged onto the end of my weekly column."
Hind also said that Markle was keen on making Hind her friend and the two sipped on drinks till about 11 pm. She added, "All in all, she seemed grateful that I was helping. We even hugged."
Hind explained it was this reason why she was surprised to watch Markle's interview with Tom Bradbury for the documentary.
In addition, Hind also claimed that Markle had then asked her advice about dating Chelsea defender Ashley Cole. Hind warned her away from Cole because there were cheating allegations on him.
When asked about the pressure of the Royal Life in the documentary, Markle said, "Look, any woman especially when they are pregnant you're really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn…"
"And especially as a woman, it's a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed it’s, well...," she said.
Meghan added, "And, also thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes." When asked if it has been a struggle, Markle replied, "Yes".