Priyanka Chopra and Her Daughter Malti Marie Wore Matching Red Dresses on the Cover of 'British Vogue'

The most important audience to Priyanka Chopra is the one right beside her — daughter Malti Marie. As the cover star for British Vogue’s February 2023 issue, the actor, producer, and entrepreneur opened up about motherhood and how nothing could have prepared her for this next role. 

“It’s been 20 years of hustling and working at breakneck speed. I’ve always been like, ’What’s the next thing?’ ” she said in the latest issue. “But now I feel I have a center, a sense of calm because every decision ends up being about her.” She added, "I want her to be able to look back and be proud of my choices. I want to do right by her.”

Inside the magazine, Chopra is photographed laying down barefoot in a red mock neck, long-sleeve dress by Ferragamo with a gold collar necklace by Bulgari and her wedding band. Preciously posed next to the new mom is her daughter whose back is turned to the camera while modeling a matching crimson dress by Kissy Kissy.

Last year, Chopra surprised her 80 million-plus Instagram followers with a simple, picture-less post celebrating Malti’s arrival: “We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much.” While it garnered three million likes, many were quick to voice their opinion on the couple’s choice of surrogacy. Chopra Jonas said she witnessed accusations of “outsourcing” her pregnancy and “renting” a womb, among other things. “I’ve developed a tough hide when people talk about me,” she said. “But it’s so painful when they talk about my daughter. I’m like, ‘Keep her out of it.’ I know what it felt like to hold her little hands when they were trying to find her veins. So no, she’s not going to be gossip.”

At the time, the couple never directly addressed the internet trolls, but their decision to stay quiet was because of the greater tribulations they were experiencing surrounding their child’s birth. 

Malti was delivered preterm and arrived a full trimester before her due date. “I was in the OR [operating room] when she came out. She was so small, smaller than my hand,” Chopra recounted. “I saw what the intensive-care nurses do. They do God’s work. Nick and I were both standing there as they intubated her. I don’t know how they even found what they needed [in her tiny body] to intubate her.”

Despite the unpredictable early days with Malti, Chopra's response to the trolls is clear: “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. And just because I don’t want to make my medical history, or my daughter’s, public doesn’t give you the right to make up whatever the reasons were.” 

As for what's next, the first-time mother wants to continue to be a role model to young girls. “Hopefully I’ll open doors for the next generation of girls. Hopefully we’ll see more Indian or South Asian actors in Hollywood," she said of her future plans. "I want to commemorate the success and achievements of South Asians outside of India, in the international sphere, because we deserve that position. Why shouldn’t we be on the main stage?”

But most importantly for her daughter, "I’ve been really protective of this chapter of my life with my daughter. Because it’s not about my life only. It’s hers too."