Meghan Markle’s Sweet Mantra Is a Love Letter to Freckles—and a Reminder to Embrace Your Own

The Duchess of Sussex shared a valuable message with a young boy at the 2025 Invictus Games in Canada.

Meghan Markle / Aaron Chown/Getty Images

Meghan Markle has never shied away from embracing her natural beauty—particularly her freckles. The Duchess of Sussex, known for her grace and advocacy for self-acceptance, recently shared a heartfelt moment with a young fan in Whistler, Canada.

During an outing with Prince Harry for the 2025 Invictus Games on Feb. 10, the 43-year-old spotted a young boy and offered him a gentle yet powerful reminder: “A face without freckles is a night without stars.”

The sentiment behind Markle’s mantra is one she has carried since childhood. In 1996, as part of an eighth-grade school project, she wrote and illustrated a book titled “A Face Without Freckles…Is a Night Without Stars.” The work, which was later discovered in the U.S. Copyright Office archives, features a heartfelt passage where young Meghan reflected on her own beauty:

“Some people think freckles are strange, while I happen to disagree,” she wrote. “Because if I did not have freckles, then I would not truly be me!”

Alongside her words, the book includes a sweet illustration of a little girl with curly hair and freckles scattered across her face and body.

Did you know Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, wrote a book in 8th grade titled, A Face without Freckles... Is a Night Without Stars. She extols the wonder of freckles with drawings and verse. Meghan submitted it to the @CopyrightOffice in 1996. From @librarycongress collection: pic.twitter.com/7XgSLTV1rc

— Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) June 22, 2021

The upcoming With Love, Meghan reality TV star has always embraced a less is more approach to beauty, prioritizing authenticity over heavy coverage. Her freckles, in particular, are a defining feature she insists on keeping visible—often reminding her glam team to use products that enhance rather than mask them. She isn’t afraid to call out publications for airbrushing her freckles away and prefers to highlight them instead.

Her former makeup artist, Lydia Sellers, recalled Markle’s dedication to this effortless look, sharing in an interview with Refinery29 that she always requested lightweight foundation. “Every time I’d do her makeup, she’d say, ‘Can we just make sure my freckles are peeking through? I don’t want a ton of foundation,’” Sellers revealed.

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A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan)

Today, the mom of two—who shares son Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3, with Prince Harry—lives in Montecito, Calif. with the family. Before becoming a royal, she had a background in entertainment, starring on Suits for seven seasons, dabbling in modeling and frequently working with top beauty and fashion brands. She is now the founder of the lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard and the host of the Archetypes podcast, where she explores the labels and narratives that shape women’s lives.