Meghan Markle appears in first interview since Lillibet’s birth
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan Markle has used her first interview since the birth of her and Prince Harry’s daughter, Lillibet Diana, to promote her new book </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bench</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Duchess of Sussex spoke with NPR’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Weekend Edition Sunday: Picture This</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> radio show and revealed that the book was inspired by a gift she gave her husband for his first Father’s Day - a garden bench.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 39-year-old said she made a plaque for the bench with a short poem she wrote on it, which sparked the initial idea for her book.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is your bench, Where life will begin, For you and our son, Our baby, our kin,” it reads.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bench</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> depicts different types of fathers and sons bonding over activities on or near a bench.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I really hope that people can see this as a love story that transcends the story of my family,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realised how much happens in the quiet.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan also said her and Harry’s son Archie is a “voracious” reader and “loves” the book.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I knew our son would notice all of those elements, and he loves the book, which is great because he has a voracious appetite for books and constantly when we read him a boko he goes ‘again, again, again’.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But now the fact he loves </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bench</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and we can say ‘Mumm wrote this for you’ feels amazing,” the duchess said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan also shared that the book contains several personal and family details hidden throughout the book, including Princess Diana’s favourite flower and the Sussexes’ rescue chickens.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think you can find sweet little moments that we hid in there - of my favourite flower, even my husband’s mum’s favourite flower, forget-me-nots,” she said</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We wanted to make sure those were included in there. There are many, many special details and love that went into this book.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Duke of Sussex / Instagram</span></p>
