Meghan Markle Revealed the Gift She Gave Prince Harry for His First Father's Day

Two years ago, Prince Harry celebrated his first Father's Day, and to mark the milestone occasion, Meghan Markle opted to give him a very nontraditional gift. In a new interview with NPR on Sunday, the Duchess of Sussex opened up about her new children's book, The Bench, and how the story was inspired by an actual bench she got her husband weeks after the couple welcomed Archie.

"As most of us do, you go, what am I going to get them as a gift?" Meghan said of her Father's Day surprise. "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." On the back of the bench, Meghan wrote a poem about the moments she hoped they would share together as a family.

"This is your bench," the poem reads, "Where life will begin / For you and our son / Our baby, our kin." That poem eventually turned into a best-selling book that Meghan describes as a "love story." She explained, "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 [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 added, "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."

Earlier this week, Meghan took a break from her maternity leave after giving birth to her daughter, Lilibet Diana, to share a personal note about the book's success on her and Harry's Archewell Foundation website.

"While this poem began as a love letter to my husband and son, I'm encouraged to see that its universal themes of love, representation and inclusivity are resonating with communities everywhere. In many ways, pursuing a more compassionate and equitable world begins with these core values," she wrote in reaction to the news of The Bench becoming a New York Times best-seller. "Equally, to depict another side of masculinity — one grounded in connection, emotion, and softness — is to model a world that so many would like to see for their sons and daughters alike. Thank you for supporting me in this special project."