What Meghan Markle Just Shared From Her California Garden

It's been quite some time since Meghan Markle traded Hollywood for the royal life, but it's clear that the Duchess of Sussex's acting prowess has never faltered. As a guest on the YouTube series "Brightly Storytime," Meghan performed a read-aloud of her children's book "The Bench," which was published in July 2021. She filmed it straight from her California home, clad in her signature white button-down blouse and jeans, with her hair in a low bun.

"I'm Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex," she said in her introduction. "I wrote this as a poem for my husband and our son, Archie, and then turned it into a book so you could enjoy it, too."

"The Bench" is Meghan's first foray into children's literature. As Meghan mentioned, the book was initially a poem that was engraved on a plaque on the back of a bench that she gifted to Prince Harry for Father's Day. In her interview with NPR, she explained that it had evolved into a collection of vignettes, all of which are inspired by the sweet relationship between Prince Harry and little Archie.

It may seem absurd to give someone a bench for Father's Day, but Meghan Markle thought to give Prince Harry and Archie a special place where they can bond. "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," she shared with NPR. "A place for him to have as a bit of a home base with our son."

And so, a bench she gave, which then gave Meghan inspiration to build a series of vignettes. She said that her writing was inspired by the little moments she got to witness just by watching her husband and son. "I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet," she added. "It was definitely moments like that, watching them from out of the window and watching [my husband]... Those lived experiences, from my observation, are the things that I infused in this poem."

With the book, Meghan hopes that it reminds people that love begins at home — with family. "It's a love story," she said of the book. "It's really just about growing with someone and having this deep connection and this trust so that, be it good times or bad, you know that you had this person," she said. "I really hope that people can see this as a love story that transcends the story of my family."