Meghan Markle reveals the Father’s Day present she bought Harry that inspired children’s book

‘I just wanted something sentimental,’ says Duchess of Sussex

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that the inspiration behind her best-selling children’s book, The Bench, came from a poem she wrote for the Duke of Sussex - and an actual bench that she bought him.

Speaking to NPRWeekend Edition on Sunday, Meghan revealed how she wrote Prince Harry a poem entitled The Bench on Father’s Day in 2019, shortly after they welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who was born on 6 May.

“As most of us do, you go, what am I going to get them as a gift?” she said.

“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 added.

A plaque on the back of the bench features lines from Meghan’s poem.

“This is your bench,” it reads, “Where life will begin/ For you and our son/ Our baby, our kin.”

Meghan, who welcomed her second child, Lilibet, with Prince Harry earlier this month, went on to describe her book, The Bench, which is about the relationship between a father and his son, as a “love story”.

“I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet,” Meghan 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.”

Meghan continued: “It’s really just about growing with someone and having this deep connection and this trust so that, be at good times or bad, you know that you had this person.”

The Duchess added how important diversity and representation was for her when writing the book.

“Growing up, I remember so much how it felt to not see yourself represented,” she said.

“Any child or any family hopefully can open this book and see themselves in it, whether that means glasses or freckled or a different body shape or a different ethnicity or religion.

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