Meghan Markle has revealed she has an unexpected night time ritual she follows almost every evening before bed.
And no, it’s not a convoluted 20-step skincare routine or some kind of meditation to help her wind down.
The Duchess of Sussex writes emails to her two children, Archie and Lilibet (Lili), each night, essentially creating a ‘virtual scrapbook’ for them to look at in the future.
Speaking on The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, Meghan explained she’d been inspired by a friend who had created ‘secret’ email addresses for her kids and was sending them ‘random pictures’ – the kind that won’t end up being framed in pride of place at home.
The 43-year-old has since put her own spin on this, writing emails for her little ones which she says they’ll have access to when they are ‘maybe 16 or 18’.
‘I thought it was such a great time capsule to create for them because I used to love scrapbooks and photo albums, but we’re past that generation now. So I’d created for the kids these email addresses with names that you’d never guess,’ she said.
‘Before I go to bed almost every night, I email them, because it doesn’t have to be a heavy lift.
‘And at some point in their life, I’ll say “Here’s an email that I’ve been keeping for you your whole life. Here’s everything and every moment where I wanted to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you.”
‘For them to be able to look back and go, “Oh my gosh, she has loved us so much!” That’s I think the best part about being a mom. […] It’s not about the grandeur of a gesture, it’s about “I see you. I’m nurturing you and I love being able to see your growth.”’
So what exactly is Meghan putting in these emails?
According to the parent, it can be absolutely anything that happened that day – from something funny they said that morning, to a picture of them having breakfast together, or their school report card.
Podcast host Jamie said Meghan’s comments about the emails gave her ‘full body chills’ and online people have also been responding very positively, with everyone saying the same thing about the ‘sweet’ bedtime ritual.
On X (formerly Twitter), a user known as @autonomy_6 said: ‘This is so sweet. I’ll have to do this with my daughter.’ While @antalaly thought it was ‘such a great idea’.
@Marc757251 agreed, posting: ‘It’s a lovely modern update on handwritten letters.’ And @mcgranaghan90 wrote: ‘She’s created a time capsule of all memories in an email. It’s just impossible to keep all the pictures of things children make or do at home or school or to put up every picture in your house. Being able to send them to an email for them to keep and go through when older is a fantastic idea.’
Over on Facebook, many parents also felt similarly, with Kerri Ann commenting: ‘Think it’s a great idea. I’m starting to write letters to my children and grandchildren so they know how much I love them.’
And Hayels Prid-Thatch added: ‘That is actually a very cool idea. Not like a physical diary but an electronic one.’
There were a few who weren’t impressed by the idea, of course, with some saying they ‘feel sorry for the kids’ as they’d have ‘clogged’ inboxes, and others had concerns about the email accounts being hacked and their privacy being violated.
But for the most part it seems like the duchess might have just inspired a number of fellow parents to follow in her footsteps… virtually.
This comes after the former Suits actress shared a sweet video on social media where her daughter’s American accent could be heard for the first time.
In the clip, the Duchess of Sussex ask Lilibet what she thinks of the strawberry jam she’s making.
The youngster replies: ‘I think it’s beautiful’, with a distinct US twang.
Meghan shared the video on her Instagram page, which she relaunched on New Year’s Day.
The duchess has been sharing various videos and photos over the past few months that give a glimpse into her life in Montecito, California.
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