NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The first children's book by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is a multicultural tribute to fatherhood.
鈥淭he Bench,鈥� a picture story published Tuesday by Random House Children's Books, celebrates the bond between Meghan's husband Prince Harry and son Archie and fathers and sons in general. Markle's rhyming narrative is complemented by illustrator Christian Robinson's watercolor images, showing families of different skin colors and backgrounds, from a light-skinned soldier returning home (Harry served in Afghanistan) to a dark-skinned man in dreadlocks, from a boy carrying a soccer trophy to a boy and his father wearing pink tutus.
Fathers are seen as buddies, teachers, consolers and cheerleaders. Random House calls the book a portrait of 鈥渢he special relationship between fathers and sons, through a mother's eyes.鈥� The image of the bench serves as a symbol of stability and comfort, starting with a drawing of Harry holding his baby son on a bench, two dogs nearby.
Markle's opening stanza:
"This is your bench
Where life will begin
For you and our son
Our baby, our kin"
The book's jacket describes Meghan, the actor formerly known as Meghan Markle, as 鈥渁 mother, wife, feminist, and activist,鈥� committed to 鈥渁ctivating compassion in communities across the world. She currently resides in her home state of California with her family, two dogs, and a growing flock of rescue chickens.鈥� In , she said it began as a Father's Day poem written a month after Archie's birth, in 2019.
鈥淭hat poem became this story," said Meghan, who dedicated the book to 鈥渢he man and the boy who made my heart go pump-pump.鈥�
Publication of 鈥淭he Bench鈥� comes , Lilibet 鈥淟ili鈥� Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, named in part for Harry鈥檚 grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose family nickname is Lilibet, and his late mother, Princess Diana. Meghan was pregnant with Lilibet while working on the book and the final illustration shows Harry and Archie, now a toddler, at the family's chicken coop. Meghan is in the garden on the opposite page, wearing a sun hat, holding an infant in a sling.
Her final stanza:
"Right there on your bench
The place you'll call home
With daddy and son
Where you'll never be 'lone"
Meghan and Harry announced last year they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, their reasons including the racist attitudes of the British media. In a TV interview in March with Oprah Winfrey, they .
The British press so far has offered a mixed verdict on her book. The Telegraph labeled it 鈥淭he Duchess of Sussex's semi-literate vanity project鈥� while the Evening Standard called her writing 鈥渟oothing, loving, although a little schmaltzy in places.鈥�
鈥淭he biggest statement to the family the Sussexes have left behind comes from the line 鈥榊ou鈥檒l tell him 鈥淚 love you鈥�, Those words always spoken,鈥�" reviewer . 鈥淲hile Harry鈥檚 father Prince Charles famously once said, 鈥榳hatever in love means鈥� about his new bride Diana, we鈥檙e being told that Harry will be telling their children he loves them a million times a day just like the rest of us.鈥�
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
