Meghan Markle skewered by Hollywood A-lister with brutal four-word verdict

was been slammed by a Hollywood star who once joined her on a panel in front of thousands of people. Actress Brooke Shields spoke about her time with the Duchess of Sussex during the latest episode of the India Hicks' podcast.

Ms Shields and the Duchess both attended during the 2024 SXSW Conference and Festival in Austin last March. The Hollywood actress said that once Meghan started speaking on stage , the atmosphere quickly became serious - later adding that she was "too serious and sensitive" in a blunt four-word verdict.

She said: "Katie [Couric] asks the first question to Meghan and talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women, etc, etc.

"[Meghan] starts telling a story about how when she was 11. And she keeps saying, well, 'when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about washing dishes and only soap for washing dishes was for women'.

"And she said, "I didn't think only women wash dishes. It wasn't fair. So I wrote to the company. And when I was 11, I wrote my first letter and when I was 11...' and she kept saying she was 11! She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial."

The actress added that she couldn't help but intervene in order to break the ice, as per the .

She said: "I go, 'Excuse me, I'm so sorry. I've got to interrupt you there for one minute.'

"I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious.

"I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different. I said, 'Well, when I was 11, I was playing a prostitute [in the 1978 film Pretty Baby].' The place went insane. And then luckily, it was more relaxed after that."

Ms Shields added: "I was like, oh, I hope she doesn't think I'm rude. I'm not being rude.

"It was just too precious. And I was like, they're not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious."

She also said that despite the crowd's laughter, her efforts may not have gone down well with the Duchess.

She said: "And then afterwards, she was kind of like, 'oh, okay'. And I was like, 'let's just have some fun with it.'

"I don't know if you'll have to cut this out."