Keira Knightly gets honest about pressure on new mums and her advice to Meghan Markle
Keira Knightley had a very strong opinion after Kate Middleton posed for photographers outside the Lindo Wing, just seven hours after giving birth to Prince Louis last year.
Now, the actress has some advice for expectant Duchess, Meghan Markle. But it's not what you might think.
During an interview with Elle UK, Knightley commented on the upcoming Royal Baby photo op, encouraging the former Hollywood actress to "do whatever she likes".
Keira Knightley has spoken about the pressures put on new mums a year after slamming Kate Middleton's post-birth photo op Getty
When reporter Daisy Murray said she wanted to see the Duchess of Sussex wearing "trackies and a top knot coming out of the Lindo Wing", the Bend It Like Beckham star had a nervous giggle.
"Meghan should wear whatever she wants when she leaves whatever hospital she's in," Knightley said.
Her comments come a year after her feminist essay was published, slamming the Duchess of Cambridge for her polished look as she headed home from hospital.
The Aftermath star said Meghan Markle can wear whatever she wants Getty
Knightley's The Weaker Sex, was written after she gave birth to daughter Edie, which was one day before Princess Charlotte was born in May 2015.
"Look stylish, don't show your battleground, Kate. Seven hours after your fight with life and death, seven hours after your body breaks open, and bloody, screaming life comes out. Don't show. Don't tell. Stand there with your girl and be shot by a pack of male photographers."
However, The Aftermath actress is still passionate about the undue pressure put on new mums - something the 33-year-old also touched on in her piece.
The actress slammed Kate Middleton's polished appearances for photographers, hours after giving birth to her children Getty
"I think people shouldn't feel as alone as they do and at the moment I think we're failing new mothers and we're failing them because the only story we have is this one of 'Oh you'll be floating away on a bubble of love'," she told Elle UK.
"And we don't talk about the hormones, we don't talk about how physically difficult it is and we don't talk about the realities of sleep deprivation.
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"And a lot of women are feeling that they're alone in not feeling like they can cope and actually a lot of new mothers feel that they can't cope.
"When you feel like you're alone, you feel kind of hopeless and I think that's awful. I really want to see people be supported."
In her striking essay dedicated to her daughter Edie - published last year in the collection Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies) - the mother-of-one wrote intimate details about her birthing experience.
Knightley and husband James Righton, welcomed daughter Edie in May 2015, a day before Princess Charlotte was born Getty
"My vagina split," she wrote.
"You came out with your eyes open. Arms up in the air. Screaming. They put you on to me, covered in blood, vernix, your head misshapen from the birth canal. Pulsating, gasping, screaming.
"You latched on to my breast immediately, hungrily, I remember the pain. The mouth clenched tight around my nipple, light sucking on and sucking out.
"I remember the s--t, the vomit, the blood, the stitches. I remember my battleground. Your battleground and life pulsating. Surviving. And I am the weaker sex? You are?"
The actress said new mums need more support to know they're not alone Getty
