Duchess Meghan is giving away 2,000 copies of ‘The Bench’ to libraries, charities

The Duke & Duchess Of Sussex Visit Sussex

There are so many hilarious royal gossip stories this week, it’s unbelievable. It’s amazing how the dusty saltines keep playing themselves and showing their asses. It’s amazing how amateurish the “grand” royal brand is coming across. It’s amazing to see internal palace power struggles spill out onto the pages of the tabloids. And it’s also amazing to see how effortlessly the Duke and Duchess of Sussex can beat the Windsors at their own bullsh-t. Throughout the pandemic, various Windsors (the Countess of Wessex, Duchess of York and Duchess of Cornwall) have all tried to start book clubs and highlight “literacy” as an issue. Then Duchess Meg releases her kids’ book and partners with charities to give out thousands of free copies to libraries, community centers and schools. Well played, Meg. Here’s the notice from Archewell:

As Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex’s debut children’s book, The Bench, releases worldwide, she and her husband, Prince Harry, along with all of us at Archewell are taking a moment to recognize and support the amazing changemakers who are fostering community, compassion, and connection for every child.

After more than a year of unprecedented challenges for schoolkids and families everywhere, The Duchess believes the path ahead must include a focus on well-being—and nourishing our communities through food, education, and emotional and mental health support. At Archewell, that is often centered on food and essential needs (as evidenced by our partnership with organizations like World Central Kitchen) but also nourishment through learning and connection (as seen in The Duchess’s support of last year’s Save With Stories initiative to raise funds for educational resources like books, toys, and worksheets).

As an example of this belief system, The Duchess and Archewell have received the support of the publisher of The Bench to distribute 2,000 copies at no cost to libraries, community centers, schools, and nonprofit programs across the country. Those receiving free copies include vital organizations like Assistance League® of Los Angeles, which has served the local community for more than 100 years and which The Duke and Duchess visited twice last year to spend time with the children at the organization’s Preschool Learning Center.

To make this happen, Archewell is working with the team at First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that’s distributed more than 200 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving kids in low-income communities in the United States and Canada. Reaching an average of 5 million kids per year, the First Book Network operates in classrooms, afterschool programs, libraries, community programs, military support programs, and more.

[From Archewell]

It’s not really surprising that Meghan would organize free copies of her book to be distributed to libraries and community centers. What does surprise me is that she didn’t package the announcement with something else, like a donation of other children’s books or young-adult books, something like that. But the point is that she’s highlighting groups like Assistance League and the First Book Network, and that she wants kids to have access to her book.

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meghan the bench

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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17 Responses to “Duchess Meghan is giving away 2,000 copies of ‘The Bench’ to libraries, charities”

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  1. TheOriginalMia says:

    Meghan is amazing. This is a wonderful collaboration. SussexSquad members were already doing this as well, so the Bench will be in a lot of local libraries for everyone to read.

  2. Amy Bee says:

    Not surprised by this. Good for Meghan.

  3. MerryGirl says:

    Well done Meg, I’m so happy The Bench is such an instant success worldwide.

  4. Lorelei says:

    I can’t wait to hear how this is somehow a horrible thing to do. It’s coming

    • Snuffles says:

      I’m sure it will be called self serving as long with a dollop of whining that she didn’t promote white children’s book writers.

    • Justjj says:

      I was about to say t-minus one second until all the Salties come out saying how this isn’t doing enough or is part of a global conspiracy to dumb down all the youths of the entire world, and foist her “barely literate” book about trivial matters such as “kindness” and “decency” on the malleable minds of impressionable kindergarteners…

    • Maria says:

      They’re going to say things like “oh, I guess this is how it became a bestseller, she bought all the copies and now is giving them away!”
      You know, typical clown sh*t.

  5. Harla says:

    I’ve ordered 6 copies of this book and Meg’s favorite, The Giving Tree, for our county libraries. I love that Meg makes it so easy to do a good deed.

  6. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    RR: the book has done so badly that now she’s having to GIVE THEM AWAY.

  7. Soni says:

    My husband, who couldn’t care less about the Royals and their goings on, even said to me yesterday, “Wow, according to the British press, Meghan and Harry can’t do anything right by them”.

  8. Sofia says:

    I think it’s a good idea. I’m sure a lot of people will benefit

  9. nicegirl says:

    Generous Duchess love her so

  10. L4frimaire says:

    Even under fire, the Sussexes do more impactful work than the rest of the so-called working royals. They may be on maternity leave but still doing things and getting stuff done. Nice of them to donate the books and support literacy programs.

  11. Aimee says:

    I’m sure someone will have something negative to say about that!

    No wonder they left the RF.

  12. ABritGuest says:

    Well done Meghan. This is probably type of real impactful solutions focused stuff she might have wanted to do in the firm that would have been prohibited for ‘stepping on shoes’ eg literacy (Camilla) or early years (Kate). Must be freeing to just get things done without having to worry about all that

    • goofpuff says:

      Pretty much anything is more impactful than Kate’s Early Years. That was a such a waste of taxpayer money and didn’t even make any difference to those children.