he Duchess of Sussex has made a personal confession on the festive special of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, which dropped on 3 December. During the episode where she was seen drawing on a plate using a special ceramic pen while being joined on set by Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis player, the wife of Prince Harry, 44, opened up about her aptitude for sports.

“I think it’s always important to always try things we’re not so great at, which I should remind myself of when I try to draw or get on a tennis court,” Meghan said, before confessing: “I am so painfully bad.”

Meghan on set of netflix show welcoming naomi osaka© JAKE ROSENBERG/NETFLIX
Meghan opened up about her being “painfully” bad at sports as a child in a conversation with Naomi Osaka

She also told an anecdote from her childhood. “My mom found an old report card of mine, and in the physical education part [where it read] ‘ability to throw or catch a ball [it said] not applicable’. They couldn’t even give me a grade.”

Prince Archie’s sporty side

It seems Prince Archie didn’t inherit his mother’s difficulty with sports, as he belongs to a football school near the Sussex family home in Montecito and is also learning to surf, a passion he shares with his father, who featured in a video Meghan posted on social media in August as he showed off his skills at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch.

Prince Harry surfing© Instagram
Harry has been learning to surf

Though the mother-of-two readily admits that she avoids sporting endeavours she says she’s poor at, her son has picked up a sport. The young prince’s passion for surfing is a development that parenting experts say is wonderful for building resilience.

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How Prince Archie builds resilience

“Surfing helps them focus, stay present, and manage their emotions,” Dr. Amanda Gummer, Chair of the Association of Play Industries and Founder of FUNdamentally Children, told HELLO! this past August.

A young Meghan Markle posing with bags on a set of stairs© Netflix
Meghan has admitted to struggling in physical education when she was a child

“It builds resilience, as learning to surf involves a lot of falling off and getting back up again. Children feel a real sense of achievement when they catch a wave, which can do wonders for their confidence.”

Prince Archie Harrison tends to a rose in a photo captured by Meghan Markle in their garden© Instagram
Prince Archie is learning resilience through his surfing classes

Surfing is also a solo sport which will teach the six-year-old additional skills. “If a child chooses a solo sport like surfing, it often means they enjoy their own company and are comfortable setting personal challenges. Surfing can help children develop independence, patience, and self-motivation,” Amanda explained.

Though the former Suits actress admits to tennis not being her strong suit, she doesn’t avoid all forms of exercise. On HELLO!‘s Lifestyle desk, we are constantly covering royal fitness, so we know that Meghan is somewhat of a yogi.

meghan and doria on wedding eve© AFP via Getty Images
Meghan inherited her love of yoga from her mother, Doria

In 2016, she told Best Health magazine: “Yoga is my thing. My mom is a yoga instructor, and I started doing mommy-and-me yoga with her when I was seven. I was very resistant as a kid, but she said, ‘Flower, you will find your practice – just give it time.’ In college, I started doing it more regularly.”