Meghan Markle: Don't edit my freckles
- Published
Actress Meghan Markle says being airbrushed by magazines still bothers her.
In US beauty magazine Allure she says her skin tone being changed in photos is her "pet peeve".
Meghan, who's in a relationship with Prince Harry, says she can't stand it when her freckles are removed.
She says her bi-racial identity is a "conundrum" for casting agents, as her father is white and mother is black.
"I have the most vivid memories of being seven years old and my mum picking me up from my grandmother's house," the Suits actress .
"There were the three of us, a family tree in an ombre of mocha next to the caramel complexion of my mom and light-skinned, freckled me.
"I remember the sense of belonging, having nothing to do with the colour of my skin."
It was only when she left home that she says things changed.
"I took an African-American studies class at Northwestern [University] where we explored colourism," she says.
"It was the first time I could put a name to feeling too light in the black community and too mixed in the white community."
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The actress says she's always found herself being judged, and was labelled "ethnically ambiguous" by casting directors.
"To this day, my pet peeve is when my skin tone is changed and my freckles are airbrushed out of a photo shoot."
The actress says her dad used to tell her: "A face without freckles is a night without stars."
'This is not a game - it is her life and his'
The 35-year-old is not alone, the Royal family have also expressed concerns about how she's treated because of her skin colour.
Last year they made a public statement about the abuse she's received, saying "a line has been crossed".
"Meghan Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment".
It was claimed she had been subject to racial comments in tabloid newspapers, online and on social media.
"It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him [Prince Harry] that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm.
"He knows commentators will say this is 'the price she has to pay' and that 'this is all part of the game'. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game - it is her life and his."
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