Meghan Markle Appears On Video To Read From ‘The Bench’

Oct 28, 2021 by apost team

In her first public appearance since she appeared with Prince Harry in New York City in September for the Global Citizen Live Concert, Meghan Markle read from her children’s book “The Bench” on YouTube in October.

The video was released on Brightly Storytime’s channel, which features various authors who read their picture books aloud to younger viewers. Other popular videos include John Cena reading from his book “Elbow Grease” and Danica McKellar as she reads from “Ten Magic Butterflies.” The channel’s mission is “to help parents raise lifelong readers.”

Markle, who published “The Bench” with Random House on June 8, explains in the video that Harry and their son Archie inspired her to write the book. Initially, she says, the book started out as a poem, which she then adapted into a children’s picture book with the help of the illustrator Christian Robinson, a Caldecott Honor winner and the artist behind “Last Stop on Market Street.”

In the video, the duchess, 40, appears in jeans and a button-down shirt — an outfit reminiscent of something she wore to the 2018 Invictus Games in Toronto. She’s also seated outdoors and surrounded by greenery, likely in her own backyard in Montecito, California.

Markle and Harry moved to The Golden State in 2020, though they lived in a Los Angeles mansion before settling in Montecito, a small community in Santa Barbara County.

The children’s book featured in the Oct. 27 video is made up of a series of vignettes in which fathers and sons share heartfelt and important moments together. 

In a June 2021 interview with NPR, Markle explained that she came up with the idea for the children’s book after gifting her husband a bench for his first Father’s Day.

"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 told NPR.

Shortly thereafter, Meghan, a mother of two, was inspired to write the poem.

"I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet," she told NPR. "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."

After Meghan decided to develop the poem into a children’s book, she got in touch with Robinson via email. The award-winning illustrator accepted, saying it was a “no-brainer” to work with the duchess. But Markle had a special request for Anderson: she wanted him to illustrate the book in watercolor, a medium the artist doesn’t usually work in.

"I wanted him to just try something a little bit new and work in watercolor," Markle told NPR. "And that was specifically because I just felt that when you talk about masculinity and you talk about fatherhood, it can often not come across with the same softness that I was really after for this book.

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“And I just wanted this to feel almost ethereal and light and Christian was able to use that medium and create the most beautiful images."

Since Brightly Storytime uploaded their video of Markle reading “The Bench,” it has accumulated more than 100,000 views in less than a day, showing that the story has clearly resonated with some viewers.

"It's a love story," Markle told NPR of “The Bench.” 

"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 added. "I really hope that people can see this as a love story that transcends the story of my family."

Beyond her appearance on Brightly’s channel, Meghan has also shared her book with schoolchildren in the U.S. In September, while Markle and Harry were on their New York trip, the duchess read from “The Bench” at P.S. 123 Mahalia Jackson School in Harlem to promote literacy, according to People Magazine.

The children at Mahalia Jackson School reportedly greeted Markle and Harry with pink paper hearts dedicated to the prince and duchess. Markle, People reports, went through the dedications and notes at the school, addressing students by name.

In addition to reading to the schools’ students, the royal couple also donated fresh vegetables and herbs as well as a washing machine, dryer and health products.

In the press, “The Bench” has received mixed reviews, with some praising the heartfelt story and others criticizing it for its “platitudes” and lack of story.

What do you think of “The Bench”? What’s your favorite children’s book? Let us know — and be sure to pass this story on to others.