Meghan Markle reveals she bought Harry a bench with an inscribed plaque for his first Father's Day and says her children's - named The Ben book is a 'love story' about life with the Royal 'in good times or bad' in interview aired on US radio today
- Meghan Markle will appear on US radio today to give her only interview about children's book The Bench
- The Duchess of Sussex will be speaking to NPR Weekend between 1pm and 3pm GMT about £12.99 book
- Meghan revealed in the pre-recorded interview that the poem was inspired by Prince Harry and Archie
- It marks her first interview since she and Harry accused the Royal Family of racism in Oprah chat in March
By
JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:23, 20 June 2021 | UPDATED: 13:46, 20 June 2021
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Meghan Markle has told US radio she bought Prince Harry a bench with an inscribed plaque for his first Father's Day and described her new children's book as a 'love story' about life with the royal 'in good times or bad', in an interview recorded before the birth of her daughter Lilibet.
The Duchess of Sussex will appear on NPR Weekend between 1pm-3pm (8am-10am EST) today to talk about her £12.99 book The Bench, which topped the New York Times Bestsellers List for children's picture books but sold just 3,212 copies in the UK its first week since publication on June 8.
It marks her first interview since she and Prince Harry accused the Royal Family of racism and not helping the duchess when she was suicidal in their chat with Oprah in March - the first of a string of bombshell allegations which rocked the foundations of the House of Windsor.
Speaking to producer Samantha Balaban, the duchess said she was 'inspired' to write a poem which became the book after watching Harry and their son Archie together. She revealed she got the duke a bench for his first Father's Day and wrote the poem on a little plaque on the back of the bench.
Meghan said: '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.
'I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet.
'It was definitely moments like that, watching them from out of the window and watching [Harry] just, you know, rock him [Archie] to sleep or carry him or, you know... those lived experiences, from my observation, are the things that I infused in this poem.'
She added: 'It's a love story. 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. I really hope that people can see this as a love story that transcends the story of my family.'
Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor - Harry and Meghan's second child, who was born on June 4 in Santa Barbara - also features in the book, which was illustrated before her birth.
Announcing the NPR broadcast, the Sussexes' friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie tweeted: 'Fresh off the heels of her first children's book becoming a certified #1 New York Times bestseller, Duchess Meghan will be giving her only interview about #TheBench to @samanthabalaban at the renowned @NPRWeekend show, this Sunday between 8am-10am Eastern.'
Early reviews for the book were not universally positive, although one cooed that 'the book's storytelling and illustration give us snapshots of shared moments that evoke a deep sense of warmth'.
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Meghan Markle at the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 1, 2019
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The duke and duchess with their then baby son Archie during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in Berkshire
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Meghan Markle has written a children's book, The Bench, about the relationship between fathers and sons
Omid Scobie, the Sussexes' preferred royal reporter, tweeted: 'Fresh off the heels of her first children's book becoming a certified #1 New York Times bestseller, Duchess Meghan will be giving her only interview about #TheBench to @samanthabalaban at the renowned @NPRWeekend show, this Sunday between 8am-10am Eastern'
Another described it as 'soothing, loving, although a little schmaltzy in places', while a third said it read 'as if it has been penned as a self-help manual for need parents rather than as a story to entertain small kids'.
A further review said: 'One wonders how any publisher could have thought fit to publish this grammar-defying set of badly rhyming cod homilies, let alone think any child anywhere would want to read it. But that's planet Sussex for you, where even the business of raising a family is all about the brand.'
An illustration shows the entire Sussex family in the garden of their Californian mansion.
Harry can be seen feeding their rescued battery hen chickens - who also featured in the couple's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year - with son Archie, two, with their two dogs, beagle Guy and black Labrador Pula, running around in the grounds.
And Meghan can been seen amidst her vegetable patch with a baby in a sling around her chest.
Another illustration features a bearded ginger father - who bears a resemblance to the duke - cradling a smiling baby on a bench under a tree. The text reads: 'This is your bench, where life will begin, for you and our son, our baby, our kin.'
In another illustration, a father and son duo each wear pink tutus while performing ballet poses. The accompanying words read: 'You'll love him. You'll listen. You'll be his supporter.'
Alongside a picture of a father and son playing with toy dinosaurs, Meghan wrote: 'When life feels in shambles, you'll help him find order.'
A father using a wheelchair also features in The Bench. He is drawn fixing his son's shoes alongside the text: 'This is your bench, for papa and son.' It continues on the next page alongside a father and son wearing turbans: 'To celebrate joys and victories won.'
Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a girl in March during their explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was a lighter moment during a series of bombshells that left the monarchy in crisis.
Meghan accused an unnamed member of the royal family - not the Queen nor Duke of Edinburgh - of racism, saying they expressed concern about how dark Archie's skin tone might be before he was born.
The duchess also called out the institution for not helping her when she was suicidal.
The Queen responded by saying the issues were taken 'very seriously' but that 'some recollections may vary' and the matter would addressed by the family privately.
Harry has gone on to accuse the royal family of 'total neglect' when his wife Meghan was feeling suicidal amid harassment on social media.
In his Apple TV mental health series with Winfrey he lambasted the parenting skills of the Prince of Wales, criticising his father for expecting his sons to endure the pressures of royal life, just as Charles has done, instead of protecting them.
The duke told Winfrey he felt 'really let down' by his father and how 'there's a lot of hurt that's happened' but he wanted to try to heal the relationship.
He said of his rift with his brother the Duke of Cambridge that the 'relationship is 'space' at the moment' and that he hoped time would make things better. The duke later appeared to suggest that his father and the Queen and Philip had failed as parents.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast that was broadcast in May, the duke said he wanted to 'break the cycle' of 'genetic pain and suffering' for the sake of his own children. He said of Charles: 'He's treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?'
Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in March 2020 in a quest for personal and financial freedom after struggling with royal life. They have signed multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, and set up their Archewell Foundation.
It comes amid claims that Prince William split his household from Prince Harry's following an angry phone conversation over claims Meghan Markle was bullying palace staff in 2018.
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Harry and Meghan, holding Archie, at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town, September 25, 2019
A friend of the Sussexes said 'William threw Harry out', according to Robert Lacey's book Battle of the Brothers which is featured in the Sunday Times, after the furious phone call which allegedly ended with the Duke of Sussex hanging up on his brother.
The book claims that William suspected Meghan was 'hostile' to the royal system and possibly planned on leaving the monarchy from the very start and returning to America.
Staff claim in the book that Meghan 'played the victim, but was a bully' and treated courtiers poorly in line with her experiences in Hollywood, a modus operandi allegedly passed on to Harry who was heard 'screaming' at his staff. Meghan and Harry have always denied the bullying allegations.
William is alleged to have told a friend he thought she had an 'agenda' and felt 'hurt' and 'betrayed' by the rift, with the heir to the throne telling a friend his wife Kate 'had been wary of Meghan from the start'.
He said he felt Meghan was 'stealing his beloved brother away from him', according to extracts from the book, and believed that she did not understand how the Royal system worked.
Lacey quotes a Kensington Palace courtier as saying: 'Meghan portrayed herself as the victim, but she was the bully. People felt run over by her. They thought she was a complete narcissist and sociopath — basically unhinged.'
The author also writes that he believes that William thought that Meghan had an 'agenda' and had voiced his reservations to Harry before their engagement, but that the row after Meghan and Harry's trip to Australia in 2018 sealed his decision to split their households.
In their infamous Oprah interview, Harry cited the Australia 2018 tour as the moment 'the family got to see how incredible she is at the job' while comparing her and the alleged treatment she received by the royal family to his mother Princess Diana.
The rift was sparked by an official email claiming Meghan was bullying palace staff, which was sent by Jason Knauf, communications secretary to the Cambridges and Sussexes, in October 2018. Staff had already been allegedly coined a 'half joke' #freeHarry.
A spokesman for the Sussexes has since said the couple are the target of a smear campaign, and denied allegations of bullying.
William heard the allegations from Simon Case, his private secretary, who was sent the email. He immediately picked up the phone to call his brother, but the conversation ended with Harry slamming down the phone, the book claims.
Lacey also dwelled on the Sussex' interview with Oprah Winfrey, where the author wrote Prince Harry claimed the brothers' falling out began because the Firm was jealous his wife Meghan was so good with people, something he said echoed his mother Princess Diana's treatment.
But the brothers were no longer on speaking terms before Harry and Meghan left for Australia, the book states, adding that it was bullying allegations that sparked a brutal row.
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since then cannot stand even the smell, let alone drink it. Didn't like discos much after either 
