She told Ms Williams: “Apparently ambition is a terrible, terrible thing. For a woman that is, according to some. So since I felt the negativity behind it, It’s really hard to un-feel it.”

And despite receiving some backlash online for her comments, Omid Scobie, a royal expert and friend to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, backed her claims.

Writing for Yahoo, the author of Meghan and Harry’s unofficial biography said Markle’s ambition “was weaponised against her the moment she entered the royal bubble.”

He discussed the release of Tom Bower’s book last month, saying: “Just last month a tawdry book on the duchess by a male journalist featured close to three dozen uses of the word, almost exclusively negatively. ‘Ambitious and ruthless’, ‘socially ambitious’, ‘ambitious networker’, ‘ambitious and hungry’, ‘a very ambitious… brazen hussy’. The list was long.”

Meghan discussed all things motherhood and ambition with Serena Williams, while also reliving a terrifying experience which saw Archie’s nursery catch fire.

She revealed that during their first public engagement on a 2019 tour of South Africa, the pair received worrying news that the nursery Archie was staying in had caught fire.

Thankfully, their “nanny” had taken Archie with her downstairs when the fire started, meaning he was unharmed.

But Meghan went on to complain about being asked to continue their public engagements following the incident.

Journalist Ella Whelan slammed the Duchess for her use of the word “ambition” during the podcast, as she said: “Ambition is only worth celebrating if what you’re being ambitious about is worthwhile.”

The episode was titled “The Misconception of Ambition” and saw the friends discuss their careers and experience as parents.

Ms Whelan made the comments during ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where she disagreed with Meghan’s claim that ambition was a “dirty word”.