Meghan Markle opens up about her struggle as a biracial woman: 'I was labeled ethnically ambiguous'

Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle has opened up about her experience as a biracial woman in Hollywood and revealed what is her biggest pet peeves in Allure magazine's Beauty of Diversity story.

The Suits actress – whose mother is an African American and father is a Caucasian – admitted that as a child her family's varying skin tones didn't affect her. She fondly recalled a story from her young years and told the Magazine, "I have the most vivid memories of being 7 years old and my mom picking me up from my grandmother's house. There were the three of us, a family tree in an ombré 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 color of my skin."

She fondly recalled a story from her younger years and told the Magazine, "I have the most vivid memories of being 7 years old and my mom picking me up from my grandmother's house. There were the three of us, a family tree in an ombré 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 color of my skin."

The 35-year-old also revealed that she was "ethnically ambiguous" during her early days as a struggling actress in Hollywood. "I took an African-American studies class at Northwestern where we explored colorism; it was the first time I could put a name to feeling too light in the black community, too mixed in the white community. For castings, I was labeled 'ethnically ambiguous.' Was I Latina? Sephardic? 'Exotic Caucasian'?" the actress said.

Markle explained that she hated when her freckles are covered up in photos which also became her pet peeve. "Add the freckles to the mix and it created quite the conundrum. To this day, my pet peeve is when my skin tone is changed and my freckles are airbrushed out of a photo shoot."

She also shared a message for all the freckled friends in the magazine and said, "For all my freckle-faced friends out there, I will share with you something my dad told me when I was younger: 'A face without freckles is a night without stars.'"

Markle is currently dating Prince Harry and according to reports, the couple might get engaged by "end of summer".