Meghan Markle has discussed the difficulties of wearing heels whilst pregnant with Archie and Lilibet in her latest podcast after the choice divided fans.
Speaking on the latest episode of Confessions of a Female Founder, in which she interviewed Spanx founder and friend Sara Blakley, Meghan, 43, praised the businesswoman’s latest foray into the world of comfy high-heeled shoes.
Ms Blakely, from Clearwater Beach in Florida, became the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire with the success of her underclothing brand before now looking to create a stiletto heel that is not painful to wear.
Speaking to the Duchess of Sussex on today’s podcast, the pair shared stories of wearing shoes that pinch and ‘cripple’ wearers, with Meghan describing how she particularly struggled during her pregnancies.
‘I gained 65 pounds with both pregnancies,’ the Duchess revealed, continuing: ‘And you’re in these five-inch pointy-toed stilettos.
‘You have the most enormous bump, and your tiny little ankles are bracing themselves in these high heels, but all of my weight was in the front, so you’re just going how on earth am I not just tipping, you know faceplanting.
‘I was clinging very closely to my husband, I was like please don’t let me fall.’
The Duchess of Sussex did face some criticism for wearing heels so late into her pregnancy, with some doctors warning against the practice due to fear of a fall.
Meghan Markle (left) was interviewing Spanx founder Sara Blakely (centre) on the latest episode of her podcast released today (Pictured with Jamie Kern Lima)
Meghan told how she would cling ‘closely’ to Harry while wearing heels during pregnancy to avoid ‘faceplanting’
Speaking to the Duchess of Sussex on today’s podcast, the pair shared stories of wearing shoes that pinch and ‘cripple’ wearers, with Meghan describing how she particularly struggled during her pregnancies
Meghan wore stilettos into her eighth month of pregnancy – and when asked how she coping, she quipped: ‘One day at a time’.
Experts warn that balance problems during late-stage pregnancy The problem is compounded by pregnancy hormones such as progesterone and relaxing, which as its name suggests makes all the muscles and ligaments in the body relax, making it far easier to turn an ankle.
In March 2019, when Meghan was approaching her due date with Archie, now five, midwife Claire Chaubert told the Mail: ‘All of your ligaments are softer in pregnancy and your body is not in its usual state of alignment.
‘But Meghan is clearly comfortable in her heels, and it’s something she is used to. My advice to any woman who does wear high heels in pregnancy would be not to wear them past the level of comfort.’
She added that due to Meghan being a fan of yoga, this could have helped her to keep tottering around in heels longer than the average mother-to-be.
She said: ‘People who do quite a lot of yoga tend to have a much stronger sense of balance, as well as better muscle control and strength.’
The College of Podiatry recommends that pregnant women wear ‘comfortable, supportive footwear’, preferably with an adjustable fitting such as Velcro or laces and avoid wearing high heels as they can place ‘unnecessary pressure on your joints at a time when they are already under strain’.
During the conversation with Ms Blakely, Meghan also revealed that Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, who have been mainly kept out of the public eye at their home in Montecito, California, are doing well.
Meghan wore stilettos into her eighth month of pregnancy – and when asked how she coping, she quipped: ‘One day at a time’
The Duchess of Sussex also revealed that she gained 65lbs during both her pregnancies
Meghan was discussing Ms Blakely’s (pictured) new venture, focusing on comfortable high heels
She promised to send Ms Blakely family pictures, adding: ‘They are so grown.’
The pair also discussed starting businesses in a male dominated world, with Ms Blakely stating: ‘There were very few women that I could go to, I really didn’t have any… I didn’t really even have other female founders that were in my network that I could bounce my approach to business.’
Describing her time in boardrooms surrounded by men, she jokingly added: ‘I’m like Jane Goodall but instead of observing chimpanzees in their natural habitat I get to observe men in their natural habitat. They totally forget I’m there.’
Meghan added: ‘There’s a misconception that you need to go to Harvard Business School and have a lot of money and get all the best people behind you [to be successful in business]… So you talk yourself out of it.
‘So many women especially, we’re taught to not even talk about money and there’s lots of guilt mentality surrounding having a lot and then at the same time there’s a scarcity mindset that’s easy to attach to of I’ll never have enough.’
She also described her relief at finding a partner in Netflix, after MailOnline revealed in recent days that the streaming giant had confirmed a new deal with the Duchess, including a third series of her show With Love, Meghan.
The second series is said to have already completed filming.
Meghan said: ‘I have a partner, I was going to do it all by myself but took a complete U-turn because I really believe in what Netflix and their CPG department are doing.
‘But it is a different experience than when you’re doing it on your own. When you only have yourself to answer to I think it’s twofold. It can be incredibly liberating or it can be incredibly lonely.’
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