Meghan Markle Covers HARPER’S BAZAAR’s 2025 Art Issue, Talks Marriage, Motherhood and More

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Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex covers HARPER’S BAZAAR’s December 2025/January 2026 Art Issue, on newsstands December 2. In an exclusive interview with Kaitlyn Greenidge, Meghan opens up about pursuing a life and a career that feel authentic to her and her alone—and allowing herself to enjoy it too. “There’s no such thing as perfect. I, too, get to make mistakes…there’s also not a lot of fun in trying to be perfect. So why try to do that if you want to have fun?”

Meghan also discusses what she hopes her kids see when they see her working and how Harry always has her back: “No one in the world loves me more than him, so I know he’s always going to make sure that he has my back.” With Harry, Meghan explains, “you have someone who just has this childlike wonder and playfulness. I was so drawn to that, and he brought that out in me. That’s translated into every part of our life. Even in business, I want us to play and have fun and explore and be creative.”

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Meghan on her work ethic: “I like the community of work and the connection,” Meghan says. “I think a lot of it is in my DNA.” It’s an attitude in contrast with the current trend of valorizing a soft life—that is, a life without work outside the home, with an emphasis on ease, which requires its own level of hidden labor. “You should do what works for you,” Meghan says diplomatically. For her, though, “when people start to see your work ethic and really understand how dedicated you are to things—how you are in one place, I believe, is how you are in other places. So for me, that’s how I show up when I do potlucks at my kids’ school, that’s how I show up when putting a party together for my friend who just had a baby, that’s how I show up in my business.”

On what she’s learned from her mistakes in her business: “If it all goes swimmingly, you don’t learn from it. If you don’t learn anything, you’re not going to grow.” She continues, “I’m a mom with kids at that age where they are constantly learning something new. I watch them face things that feel completely insurmountable every day. But you can remember and say, ‘I know it seems really hard right now, but trust me, that’s going to come so easily soon.’ I can give myself the same grace as a founder. There’s no such thing as perfect. I, too, get to make mistakes.”

“I don’t like things that feel overly realized,” Meghan says. “If you overwork the dough, it’s not going to rise. And sometimes I think the stress that people put on moments … they are so consumed in them that you lose the fun of why you are doing something.”

“There’s also not a lot of fun in trying to be perfect,” Meghan says. “So why try to do that if you want to have fun?”

On if she ever feels the need to compartmentalize the parts of her life, work and family: “My office is right by the kitchen, and I love that I can work from home,” she says. “It’s a great luxury.” Her daughter, Lilibet, “comes and sits on my lap when I’m in the middle of the meeting, whether it’s about P and L for my brand or it’s about something creative.”

On what she hopes her kids see when they see her working: “I hope they see the value of being brave. They saw it when the jam was just a pot on the stove, bubbling. When you’re young,” she adds, ”I think you are a little bit more fearless. As we get older, we lose some of that.”

On meeting Meghan over a decade ago at a Super Bowl party: “We both definitely have a dry sense of humor. I think that’s why we hit it off for no reason at this silly football thing. We were just like, ‘Why are we here? To meet you?’ Apparently, and we’ve been lifelong friends ever since.”

“We love a good mimosa,” Williams says. “We could talk for a hundred hours, and it feels like 10 minutes go by, and it’s like we never stop smiling.”.

On staying authentic to herself: In the week since we last met, Meghan caused a sensation when she made a surprise appearance at the Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week, the first with Pierpaolo Piccioli at the helm. The two have known each other for years. “I was excited for him,” she says. “I reached out and I said, ‘Happy to come and support you.’ We kept it a secret, and it was really fun.”

There’s that word again. “I love being able to do both,” Meghan says, “to play in the sandbox with my kids and to play in the front row at a show. I think the moment that you start making all of your personal decisions based on external judgment, then you lose your authenticity.” I point out that when women in the public eye are multidimensional, they tend to get a lot of flak. “Why do you think that is?” Meghan asks me. Here, I launch into a tangent about our culture’s deep and historical distrust of women’s voices in public. “You know what I mean?” I finally say. Meghan deadpans again, “Well. Yeah.”

On boundaries: “I think my boundaries became stronger once I came into the public eye in this very …” she pauses and makes a face, similar to the one she made when talking about making mistakes, and laughs. “I could think of any adjective to fill the blank. And it would probably work. You find different ways to protect yourself, whether that’s self-preservation or it’s just growing up.”

On Harry having her back: “He loves me so boldly, fully, and he also has a different perspective because he sees media that I wouldn’t,” she says. “No one in the world loves me more than him, so I know he’s always going to make sure that he has my back.” With Harry, Meghan explains, “you have someone who just has this childlike wonder and playfulness. I was so drawn to that, and he brought that out in me. That’s translated into every part of our life. Even in business, I want us to play and have fun and explore and be creative.”

On how Meghan’s parenting style is “very different” from her mother’s; she has made it a study, using books and apps, a diligence that has made her an authority within her friend circle: “She’s just so smart, and I feel like no matter what, I can always learn from her,” says Williams. The last time the two hung out, Meghan “was talking about this amazing woman who is really helpful and how to talk to kids. I’m implementing so much that she’s teaching me.”

[Photo Credit: Malick Bodian/Harper’s Bazaar Magazine]

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