Meghan Markle has described a hair stylist friend as an ‘auntie’ to her children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in the latest episode of her new podcast.
The Duchess of Sussex said her six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter ‘run out’ whenever Kadi Lee, co-founder of hair brand Highbrow Hippie, arrives in her car.
In episode three of Confessions Of A Female Founder, Meghan described Lee as ‘Auntie Kadi’. Lee called herself ‘Super Aunt’, adding that she had no children.
The Duchess – who revealed last November that she had invested in Highbrow Hippie – also referred to Serena Williams as Lilibet’s ‘auntie’ in an online post last month.
But Meghan made no reference to the children’s auntie the Princess of Wales, who first met Archie a week after his birth in May 2019 with her husband Prince William.
It is not known whether Kate has met Lilibet. Kate said in June 2021 shortly after the girl’s birth: ‘I can’t wait to meet her. We haven’t met her yet. I hope that will be soon.’
Archie and Lilibet also have no relationship with any of the women on Meghan’s side who could be called their aunts. Meghan has one half-sister, Samantha Markle, through her father Thomas Markle Snr’s side – but has cut off ties with both of them.
The Duchess’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jnr has been married twice, but Meghan has also had no relationship with him since well before she wed Prince Harry in 2018.

Meghan Markle with Kadi Lee at a Highbrow Hippie event in Venice, California, last November


Prince Archie is pictured in September 2019 (left) and Princess Lilibet in June 2022 (right)

It is not known whether the Prince and Princess of Wales (pictured) have met Princess Lilibet
Meghan’s reference to Lee as an ‘Auntie’ can however be linked to the word’s usage as a ‘general term of respect for usually older women in various contexts’, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary.
In the podcast, Meghan asked Lee: ‘Let’s imagine and assume when you sell, because you will, and it’ll be a great day of celebration, what would you do in your next chapter?’
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Lee replied: ‘Oh gosh, I want to kind of go back to my English major roots. I want to get some writing done, I’d like to live in another country – perhaps my native land of Jamaica, maybe I’ll try a stint in Europe.
‘I’m just a really naturally curious person. I was not blessed with kids, I’m still holding out hope I might be a step-mama one day, but for right now I’m just Super Aunt!’
Meghan said: ‘I mean our kids love Auntie Kadi, it’s just our favourite when they run out, your car, it’s like ‘Kadi!’
Lee added: ‘I know, I feel like I look for them first!’
Also in the new podcast episode, Meghan branded American Riviera Orchard, the former name of her lifestyle business, a ‘word salad’, adding: ‘I didn’t love that so much.’
Meghan ran into trademark issues when the US Patent and Trademark Office said geographical locations could not be patented, and she eventually renamed her venture As Ever.

The Duchess of Sussex launched her ‘Confessions Of A Female Founder’ podcast last month


Meghan referred to Serena Williams as an ‘auntie’ to Lilibet in an Instagram post last month

Meghan with poet Cleo Wade (left) and Kadi Lee (right) to celebrate her 42nd birthday in 2023
In the latest episode of her podcast, Meghan insists it was ‘really just helpful to have that quiet period’ before her As Ever name was unveiled, ‘when no one was sniffing around’.
The former Suits actress said: ‘I had secured As Ever as a name in 2022, and then, as everything started to evolve last year, and bringing in a partner the size that it was, it was just so interesting.
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‘You remember, I said ‘I like American Riviera as an umbrella’, and then be able to have verticals beneath it.
‘And maybe have the Orchard really small. But when that’s not feasible … suddenly it became this word salad. I didn’t love that so much.
‘I was like ‘OK, let’s go back to the thing that I’ve always loved. Let’s use the name that I protected for a reason that had sort of been under wraps’.
‘And then we were able to focus in the quiet and put our heads down and build on something that no-one was sniffing around to even see about.
‘It was really just helpful to have that quiet period.’
Meghan greeted Lee by saying: ‘Disregard the state of my hair right now. I’m so excited I’m seeing you next week. I should have a baseball cap on.’
The duchess said the pair met in 2020 – the year of Megxit when Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit the working monarchy for a new life in the US – and told of her attempts to dye her own hair at home during the pandemic.

Meghan with Kadi Lee and her hair stylist Serge Normant at the Highbrow Hippie event in Venice, California, in November 2024

Serge Normant styled Meghan’s hair for her wedding to Prince Harry in Windsor in May 2018
Meghan said: ‘It was 2020 – it was very much 2020.’
She added: ‘My family had just moved to California. We were staying in our friend’s home and, because it was the pandemic, I kept ordering boxed hair dye, and I thought I’m gonna look just like she does on the box.
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‘And instead it was this very inky, almost Elvira-esque black hair.’
Lee, who was called in at the time to help Meghan with her hair, said: ‘I remember meeting you guys, and you were so warm and both you and H wrapped us up in these big bear hugs and I was like ‘I don’t even know these people and I’m not a hugger but let’s do it’.’
Reflecting on having to close her hair salon during the pandemic, Lee added: ‘It felt like such whiplash and it felt like, gosh we cannot get a break, you know?’
Meghan laughed and added: ‘Oh, I understand.’
The Duchess promoted the Highbrow Hippie brand during the podcast, saying: ‘Look at you now – I mean, the name Highbrow Hippie is no longer just a blog and a hair salon, it’s a product line too.

Meghan Markle originally introduced her brand as American Riviera Orchard in March last year

The Duchess faced trademarking setbacks and switched the name to As Ever in February
‘You have a hair supplement and hair serum that you just launched late last year, and it’s already been named best hair serum by Oprah Daily.’
Meghan was pictured at the launch party for the firm’s new hair wellness range in California in November 2024 amid reports she was financially backing Lee’s venture.
The Duchess described working on her podcast, her As Ever products including raspberry spread and flower sprinkles, and her much-criticised Netflix show at the same time as ‘energising’.
She said: ‘I’m doing the podcast right now, the show and the brand. That’s three launches at the same time. It’s a lot of moving pieces, but it’s also energising.’
The episode is the third instalment from Meghan’s eight-part series with Lemonada Media, which promised ‘girl talk’ and advice on how to create ‘billion-dollar businesses’.