Meghan Markle’s amazing 40th birthday message
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To celebrate her 40th birthday, Meghan Markle has released a hilarious video with comedian Melissa McCarthy where she calls on her Hollywood friends to help make her 40th birthday wish come true.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the clip, the Duchess of Sussex traded jokes with the American actress, who both burst out laughing after Prince Harry hijacked the Zoom call and began juggling in the background.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan has launched the 40x40 initiative, urging 40 people to donate 40 minutes of their time to mentor women trying to return to the workforce.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the video, Meghan calls McCarthy via Zoom and asks her to be a mentor, with the comedian sharing her own ideas on how they should celebrate Meghan’s birthday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s my 40th birthday, and I’ve got an idea,” Meghan says, after McCarthy changes from a dressing gown into a fancier outfit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I know what it is,” McCarthy replies. “My first guess is another photoshoot under a tree where you’re looking very peaceful”, resembling her pregnancy announcement.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan pushes back on the idea, saying she is peaceful under a tree everyday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, McCarthy asks, “Are we finally getting matching tattoos?” as she holds up a drawing of herself and Meghan surrounded by flowers.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You know I already have something similar across my back,” the Duchess replies, suggesting they save the idea for when she turns 50.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McCarthy then asks, “Are you finally going to do a </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suits</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reunion?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan says she “loves </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suits</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">” but questions why she would do a reunion for her birthday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan continues, “I think the bigger idea is…” before McCarthy interrupts with her next suggestion.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A yacht party. Yacht party. Who’s ready for a yacht?!” McCarthy says while putting on a pair of huge sunglasses and a hat. “Like when you say no yacht, do you mean zero yachts?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After all the jokes, Meghan finally gets to share her birthday idea.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Because I’m turning 40, I’m asking 40 friends to donate 40 minutes of their time to help mentor a woman who’s mobilising back into the workforce,” she says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to an act of service, we can create a ripple effect.:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a lengthy message on her non-profit website, Archewell, Meghan says she came up with the idea after realising time was the most “essential gift”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In reflecting on my 40th birthday and the many things I am grateful for, I’m struck that time is among our greatest and most essential gifts: Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love, time spent learning, laughing, growing, and the sacred time we have on this Earth,” Meghan says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Amongst the most valuable gifts of time is also time spent in service to others knowing that it can contribute to incredible change. To that last point, and with my 40th lap around the sun in mind, it made me wonder: What would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need? And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In the past two years, and in large part because of the Covid-19 pandemic, tens of millions of women around the world have left the workforce, including over two million women in the US. So many of these women are also shouldering the brunt of the crisis when it comes to unpaid labour, including schooling and caring for family members.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“And the latest research shows that fewer women than men will regain work as we recover from the pandemic.”</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied</span></em></p>
