Meghan Markle was recently a topic of discussion on the British designer, writer, and businesswoman India Hicks’ self-titled podcast, earlier this month. American actress Brooke Shields appeared as a guest and commented about the Duchess of Sussex as “precious” and “serious” at an event.
During the episode, Shields recalled sharing the stage with Markle at an SXSW panel in March 2024. The panel, moderated by Katie Couric, was titled "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen."
“Katie asks the first question to Meghan, and she talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women,” Brooke told India Hicks during the recent podcast appearance.
Shields further added how Markle shared a story from when she was 11 years old.
“It was just too precious, and I was like, they’re not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious,” Shields said.
Brooke Shields mentioned to India Hicks that to lighten the mood, she revealed at the panel that unlike Meghan Markle, she was “playing a prostitute” at the same age, referring to her breakout role from the 1978 movie, Pretty Baby.
According to the 60-year-old actress, “the place went insane" after her comments, and the panel became “more relaxed.”
However, Brooke Shields’ The India Hicks Podcast episode has now reportedly been taken down, as per various sources, including E Online, The Independent, and People. Hicks’ Substack currently shows “page not found” when clicked on the link for the Shields’ podcast episode. No official announcement about the episode's alleged removal has been made.
Exploring further Brooke Shields’ comments about Meghan Markle
During her appearance on India Hicks’ podcast, Brooke Shields reminisced her experience with Meghan Markle at last year’s SXSW panel discussion on the need for women empowerment on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
“She [Meghan Markle] starts telling a story about how when she was 11 – and she keeps saying, ‘Well, when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about how washing dishes was for women,’” Shields told Hicks.
The Suddenly Susan actress continued:
“And she said, ‘I didn’t think only women wash dishes. It wasn’t fair. So, I wrote to the company.’ She kept saying she was 11! She wrote to the company, they changed the text, and they changed the commercial.”
Brooke Shields recalled how she interjected Meghan Markle’s story because she “wanted to be funny because it was so serious,” while “trying not to be rude.” She then addressed the audience and said she was “different” than the Suits star in the way that when she was 11, she was a child artist playing diverse roles in films and television.
So far, Meghan Markle has not responded to Brooke Shields’ remarks on India Hicks’ podcast. Shields too has not commented on Hicks seemingly removing her interview from her website, the reason of which remains undisclosed.
While Markle is a member of the British Royal Family, Hicks is a relative of the royals. She is the daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks who is the maternal descendant of the House of Mountbatten. India is also the goddaughter of King Charles III.
Meanwhile, Meghan has shared the same story previously, calling it her first step towards advocating for women. For instance, in her 2015 United Nations speech, she revealed how she challenged a commercial of Procter & Gamble Ivory dish soap that had the slogan “Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.” The company subsequently changed it to “People all over America.”