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Meghan Markle told her Netflix documentary about a poem she wrote as a child, expressing her feelings about her parents' divorce.
The Duchess of Sussex described growing up with mother Doria Ragland and father Thomas Markle living apart and praised the way they dealt with the split.
However, she also gave an insight into how hard she found life spread across two homes through a poem she wrote when she was 12 for an assignment at the Los Angeles private school Immaculate Heart where she studied.
She told the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan: "Even though my parents co-parented well, you think about how that informs what you grow up to be and what you want.
"It's so funny, when I was 12, I was at Immaculate Heart, and one of the assignments was to write a poem about your life.
"And I remember this poem to this day."
Full Text of Meghan Markle's Poem About Parents Divorce
Two houses, two homes, two kitchens, two phones,
Two couches where I lay, two places that I stay,
Moving, moving here and there, from Monday to Friday I'm everywhere,
Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad
But often times it makes me sad,
I want to live that nuclear life,
With a happy dad and his loving wife,
A picket fence, a shaggy dog,
A fireplace with a burning log,
But it's not real, it's just a dream,
I cannot cry or even scream,
So here I sit with cat number three,
Life would be easy if there were two of me.
Meghan described living with her mother during the week and her father, who lived alone, at the weekends.
"I was a daddy's girl my whole life and I was with him a lot," the duchess said, adding, "But I do remember also feeling lonely when I was a kid and wanting to have more people around."
Prince Harry's parents also divorced and he told the documentary about his own experiences.
The prince said: "I think most kids who are the product of divorced parents have a lot in common, no matter what your background is.
"Being pulled from one place to another or maybe your parents are competitive or you're in one place longer than you want to be or another place less than you want to be. There's all sorts of pieces to that."
He added that the press' hounding of his mother had been a major factor in his childhood: "The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi."
Harry said: "Within the family, within the system, the advice that's always given is 'don't react. Don't feed into it.'
"There was always public pressure with its fair share of drama, stress, and also tears. And witnessing those tears. I always see it on my mum's face."
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more