Meghan’s first book for children explores ‘bond between father and son’

The Duchess of Sussex has written her first children’s book, to be published next month and inspired by Prince Harry and their son Archie.

In a statement Meghan said The Bench, set for release on 8 June, explores the “special bond between father and son as seen through a mother’s eyes”. The story has pictures by the award-winning illustrator Christian Robinson and will be published by Penguin Random House. Meghan will also narrate the audiobook edition.

The duchess, 39, said the picture book started as a poem she wrote for Harry on Father’s Day the month after Archie was born.

She said: “Christian layered in beautiful and ethereal watercolour illustrations that capture the warmth, joy and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life; this representation was particularly important to me, and Christian and I worked closely to depict this special bond through an inclusive lens.

“My hope is that The Bench resonates with every family, no matter the makeup, as much as it does with mine.”

Images of the book released ahead of its publication include the cover, a watercolour picture of a bench and birds under a tree.

Another from inside the book appears to depict Meghan, Harry and Archie, with a boy being lifted into the air by a dad in military uniform as a woman weeps from the window. Words accompanying the picture read: “Looking out at My Love and our beautiful boy. And here in the window I’ll have tears of joy.”

Another image features a black father and baby son dozing outdoors, accompanied by the words: “From here you will rest, see the growth of our boy.”

Since the couple moved away from royal life a year ago and started a new life in Santa Barbara, California, they have launched their own non-profit organisation, Archewell, and signed lucrative commercial deals, including with Netflix and Spotify.

Harry recently announced he was taking up the role of chief impact officer at the mental health and life coaching start-up BetterUp.

Though The Bench is her first book, Meghan has dabbled in writing before. During her acting career she wrote a lifestyle blog, the Tig, which she described as her passion project. She closed it down shortly after she began dating Harry.

She also worked on and penned the foreword to Together: Our Community Cookbook, a collection of recipes from survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, published in 2018.