Meghan Markle recently opened up about her hair struggles during the pandemic, sharing a funny story about her attempt to dye her dark locks at home. In the April 22 episode of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast, the Duchess of Sussex recalled how she turned to boxed hair dye while quarantining in 2020.
Speaking with businesswoman and hair colorist Kadi Lee, Meghan explained how she met Lee through her stylist Serge Normant. “Serge and I became friends after he did my hair for my wedding,” Meghan said, referring to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry. At the time, she and her family had just moved to California, and she was trying to manage her hair during the pandemic lockdown.
“I kept ordering boxed hair dye and thought I’d look just like the model on the box,” Meghan shared. However, the result was far from what she expected. “Instead, I ended up with this very inky, almost Elvira-esque black hair,” she laughed. Feeling desperate, Meghan texted Serge, who advised her to see Kadi. “You came over, we were masked, and it was such an interesting time,” Meghan recalled. “I remember that day so well.”
Their friendship grew from there, with Meghan sharing that her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, affectionately call Kadi “Auntie Kadi.” “Our kids love Auntie Kadi,” Meghan said, adding that it’s one of her favorite moments when they excitedly run to greet her.
In addition to her pandemic hair mishap, Meghan also reflected on the challenges she faced in her college years maintaining her hair. “When I was at Northwestern and moved into the Kappa sorority, I don’t even think they had plug-in flat irons,” she recalled. “If they did, I didn’t know where they were. I had to use a little stove with a flat iron and a paper towel on the side.”
Meghan, who has spoken candidly about her experience as a biracial woman, also shared how her sorority sisters reacted to the smell of her hair routine. “Most of the girls in the sorority who weren’t Black asked, ‘What’s that smell? Is hair burning?’” she said.
In a 2015 essay for Elle, Meghan reflected on her mixed-race heritage and how she has embraced her identity. “I’ve come to embrace that,” she wrote. “I am enough exactly as I am.”
