Meghan Markle Recalls Her Andie MacDowell-Inspired Childhood Haircut: 'I Was Obsessed'

The Ellen Show Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle is opening up about some of her first beauty inspirations.

The Duchess of Sussex, 40, recounted how Andie MacDowell inspired her childhood haircut — and how it turned into "a real bummer" — during her Thursday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

"I was 10 or 11 maybe. The reason my hair looked like that back then was because I was obsessed with Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and all I wanted was that perfect curly little haircut," she told host Ellen DeGeneres. "So I asked my mom, and we went to the hairdresser and got it, and on that first day I was like, 'This is amazing! I look like Andie MacDowell.'

"And then it was as though everyone forgot to tell me, 'You have ethnic hair, you are not going to look like Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral,' and that's what it ended up evolving into. And I went to school, and they said I looked like Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. It was a real bummer," Markle explained.

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MacDowell, 63, who starred alongside Hugh Grant in the 1994 romantic comedy, has long been adored for her voluminous curly locks. Most recently, she's embraced going gray, which her daughters Margaret Qualley, 27, and Rainey Qualley, 31, have assured her is a "badass" look.

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"I'm not worried about keeping it under control. We've emphasized the wildness. We've gone with that," MacDowell told PEOPLE in July, adding: "Because of the silver, it gets even a little drier. The texture becomes even more wiry, but I'm embracing all of it. I'm comfortable. I like me. That's where you get to by the time you're my age."

Markle had her own line of hair accessories as a kid, previously recounting another childhood memory of her first business venture. When she was "8 or 9," she sold homemade scrunchies for around $5.

"I remember the feeling of knowing that I had done something, I had invested in myself and done this labor and been compensated for it," she said at the The New York Times DealBook Online Summit earlier this month. "There's a sense of pride that comes from that."

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The Suits alum's surprise appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show marked her first daytime talk show appearance since she married Prince Harry and joined the royal family. Last March, the couple sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a candid chat about their decision to step back from their roles as working royals and their new life in California.