14 August 2023 , 13:11
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It was the blog where Meghan Markle would share her inner most thoughts and feelings as well as enviable snaps of her life.
And it seems her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she wrote between 2014 and 2017 and was named after her favourite red wine, looks poised to make a return. The Duchess, 42, has reportedly been issued with a so-called Notice of Allowance document by the US Patent and Trademark Office, after an application to trademark the blog last November.
And many believe this is the biggest sign yet that Meghan is set to revive the wesbite, which saw her provide her favourite recipes, share fun photos and write about her life. But what was The Tig actually like before it was stopped shortly before her engagement to Prince Harry? Here we take a look....
Constant battle
In a post to mark her 33rd birthday in 2014, Meghan opened up about her younger years - before she shot to international fame - giving an insight into her life. She called the post Birthday Suit and accompanying the post was a beautiful image of Meghan - appearing to not be wearing a top. She wrote: "My 20s were brutal – a constant battle with myself, judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/as hip/as smart/as 'whatever' as everyone else."
Meghan Markle coul revive her blog The Tiig (Getty Images for 2022 Robert F.)Meanwhile, Meghan also talked in the post about her teenage years and trying to fit in at school. She added: "My teens were even worse – grappling with how to fit in, and what that even meant. My high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, the Filipino and the Latina girls. Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between."
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She said every day at lunch she would keep herself busy with school societies like French club and a student body that took place between noon and 1pm so she wouldn't have to eat on her own. But she recalled a breakthrough moment in her life when attending an audition in her mid-20s. She explained: "I must have been about 24 when a casting director looked at me during an audition and said 'You need to know that you’re enough. Less makeup, more Meghan'."
Meghan had been a keen lifestyle blogger before meeting Harry (Instagram)Unladylike habits
In another candid post, Meghan made a confession about struggling to give up "unladylike habits" as part of her New Year's resolutions - just months before she met Prince Harry. She wrote: "Run a marathon. Stop biting my nails. Stop swearing. Re-learn French. These make my New Year’s resolution list nearly (AKA actually every) single year.
"The marathon hasn't happened. The swearing comes in lulls triggered by being overworked or feeling mighty cheeky after a couple of drinks. Then there's the French – a language I studied through high school and then lost as I immersed myself in speaking Spanish with the Argentinians during my stint in Buenos Aires.
"I have put my little Rosetta Stone headset in my eager ears every year, resolving to do interviews en français, but much to my chagrin, it hasn't stuck. And when it comes to the biting of the nails – well, it still happens with a turbulent flight or a stressful day. It's unladylike. But then again, so is the swearing. Dammit."
Post about Kate Middleton
In a twist of fate, Meghan also blogged about the Prince and Princess of Wales' wedding - seven years before her own royal wedding. She wrote about "the pomp" surrounding Kate and William's 2011 wedding and how she grew up dreaming of becoming a princess.
Meghan chats to sister-in-law Kate Middleton (PA)A section published by The Sun states: "Little girls dream of being princesses. I, for one, was all about She-Ra, Princess of Power. For those of you unfamiliar with the '80s cartoon reference, She-Ra is the twin sister of He-Man and a sword-wielding royal rebel known for her strength. We're definitely not talking about Cinderella here.
"Grown women seem to retain this childhood fantasy. Just look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding and endless conversation about Princess Kate."
Sweet tribute to dad
Meghan's relationship with her estranged father Thomas has been strained for many years. It's thought the pair haven't seen each other since she married Harry and he is yet to meet his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
However, when Meghan was running her blog, it seemed she was close to her dad and wrote a gushing post about him revealing the heartwarming present he once bought her for Christmas. She explained how her "hardworking daddy" went to Toys R Us to buy a boxed set of Barbie dolls which she had been yearning for - at a time she was struggling with her biracial identity.
However there was a problem - they either came as a black family or a white one. So when at Toys R Us faced with the boxes of Barbies in front of him, Thomas 'broke the rules' and took them apart to make a custom family for his little girl. Meghan recalled: "When I was about seven, I had been fawning over a boxed set of Barbie dolls.
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Meghan with her dad Thomas Markle"It was called The Heart Family and included a mom doll, a dad doll, and two children. This perfect nuclear family was only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls. I don’t remember coveting one over the other, I just wanted one.
"On Christmas morning, swathed in glitter-flecked wrapping paper, there I found my Heart Family: a black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each color. My dad had taken the sets apart and customized my family.
"I picture him standing there in Toys R Us, moms glaring at him for taking the toys apart, perhaps an employee saying 'excuse me sir, you can’t do that' — as my dad carefully separated the boxed sets to make one that echoed my reality. One that showed me that I should (and could) make my own box."
Juggling celebrity life
In one of Meghan's most popular posts, Meghan offered her candid thoughts on how to juggle "celebrity life" with "giving back" and doing her "day job". The 2,000-word post was published in October 2016, months after starting her relationship with Harry. "I’m consistently asked how I keep a foot in two contrasting worlds – one in the entertainment industry, predicated on wealth and indulgence, and the other in humanitarian work," she wrote.
"To me, it’s less of a question of how can you do this, and more a question of how can you not." She also describes her upbringing in Los Angeles, California, with her "free-spirited clinical therapist mom" and "the most hardworking father you can imagine", and how, even at 11, she wanted to become an independent, strong woman.
Meghan added: "While my life shifts from refugee camps to red carpets, I choose them both because these worlds can, in fact, coexist. And for me, they must. My eleven-year-old self would be proud, because while I may not have realized it at the time, I, in fact, have always had a foot in the world of entertainment as well as the world of public service; my life now is simply a more heightened version of the very reality in which I grew up. And, truth be told, it’s the most beautiful gift I never knew I always had."