Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, recently published her children’s book, “The Bench.”
The book explores the bond between fathers and their sons.
“This is your bench,” the poem reads, “Where life will begin/For you and our son/Our baby, our kin.”
The royal’s book featured several touching drawings of her husband, Prince Harry, and their son, Archie. In a recent interview with NPR, the Duchess revealed how she came up with the concept for the storybook.
“As most of us do, you go, what am I going to get them as a gift? And I thought I just wanted something sentimental and a place for him to have as a bit of a home base with our son,” Meghan said.
She said much of the book was inspired by watching her husband and son’s close relationship.
“I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet,” she said. “It was definitely moments like that, watching them from out of the window and watching [my husband] just, you know, rock him to sleep or carry him or, you know … those lived experiences, from my observation, are the things that I infused in this poem.”
The book is a welcomed distraction for the Duchess and her husband, who have been flooded with negative narratives since they first announced their engagement back in November 2017.
After the couple’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey aired earlier this year, the couple shared that one member of the regal family expressed concern over the color of Archie’s skin while he was still in the womb. The British royal family has been battling to repair its tattered reputation.
The revelation led to tensions behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, but Prince Harry continues to stand by his wife, as he always has. The prince says he is doing anything he can to prevent his wife from ending up with the same fate as his late mother, Princess Diana.
