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Before her relationship with Prince Harry was announced she revealed how her father responded when as a child she returned from school unhappy.
Ms Markle explained how before an English exam she had to fill out a form, which included ticking a box for her race.
The four options were ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Asian’.
This presented a problem for the young Ms Markle, the mixed race daughter of a black mother and white father.
She said she didn’t know which box to tick, so left it blank.
Later she discussed it with her father, who became angry at what he perceived as the racial insensitive question.
Ms Markle explained: “It made the green of his eyes pop and his brow was weighted at the thought of his daughter pray to ignorance.
“And in one of those parenting moments that no guidebook could ever prep you for, my dad said words which will stay with me forever.
“Draw your own box.”
She added: “He wanted me to see beyond that census placed in front of me. He wanted me to find my own truth.”
Ms Markle has spoken previously about struggling with her identity as a mixed race child in her early years.
In another endearing story involving her father she revealed that for her Christmas present he once purchased two barbie boll sets, one representing a white family and the other a black family, and mixed them together to create a custom family for Meghan.
She explained: “When I was about seven, I have been fawning over a boxed set of Barbie dolls.
“It was called The Heart Family and included a mum doll, a dad doll, and two children. This perfect nuclear family was only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls.
“On Christmas morning, swathed in glitter-flecked wrapping paper, there I found my Heart Family: a black mum doll, a white dad doll, and a child of each colour.
“My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.
“One that showed me that I should (and could) make my own box.”
Relations between Ms Markle and her father have deteriorated recently however, with Mr Markle making a number of comments which are likely to embarrass his daughter and the Royal Family.
In a recent interview with The Sun Mr Markle described the Royal Family as “cult-like – like Scientology”.
He has previously claimed that Princess Diana would have “loathed” the way he is treated.
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