It’s been a big year for Meghan Markle: a new husband, a new baby, a new job, a new country.

For most of us, any one of these weighty life events would mark a time of upheaval – let alone having to grapple with all of them at once, under the unforgiving public eye.

Now for the first time, in a heartbreakingly raw interview, the duchess has admitted to the struggle: “Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable. So, that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, and especially as a woman, it’s a lot,” she revealed during an interview with iTV’s Tom Bradby for a documentary about the royal couple’s recent tour of southern Africa. 

Meghan continued, “So, you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed. I guess also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

Bradby then asked her: “And the answer is, would it be fair to say, not really OK, as in it’s really been a struggle?”. Evidently emotional, Meghan nodded and simply replied: “Yes”.

The truth is, very few of us can even fathom what it would be like to live our lives in the spotlight, as Meghan does. Certainly not being thrust into it almost overnight. Nor will we. But someone who does have an idea, is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

At first glance, the freshman congresswoman and the newly appointed royal appear to be living worlds apart. But like Meghan, Ocasio-Cortez’s life followed a similar sudden trajectory when she was elected to Congress last year: suddenly, she found herself up against a barrage of scrutiny from her rivals, the public and the media.

Not least when a video of her dancing on a rooftop as a student went viral online in January in a disgustingly transparent move intended to discredit her reputation.

As you may remember, this political mud-slinging backfired anyway, when she responded with a follow-up video of her dancing into her new office.

Maybe this is why the Congresswoman was so struck by Meghan’s emotional plea, and felt moved to speak out. 

Thanking Tom Bradby for his pivotal question, AOC tweeted: “Sudden prominence is a very dehumanising experience. There’s a part of your life that you lose, & it later dawns on you that you’ll never get it back. The people who treat you like a human make all the difference.”

She’s right: treating someone like a human, asking if they’re okay, can make all the difference.

So thank you, Tom Bradby, for asking the question we all should have asked.

Image: Getty.