On Monday, the Duchess of Sussex dropped several photos and videos on her Instagram Stories. It’s been a minute since she’s posted glimpses into her family life in Montecito, and it served as a reminder that no matter what those royalist lunatics say and write, Harry and Meghan are fine. They’re enjoying their peaceful life with their gardens, their children and their chickens. We got special appearances from Lili and two chickens, plus Harry filming his wife as she made a beautiful flower arrangement with mostly pink flowers (probably for pink-lover Lili). Meghan also showed that she’s reading a book of poetry, They Bloom Because of You by New Zealand-based poet Jessica Urlichs. Urlichs was thrilled!
Meghan Markle has revealed she’s reading a poetry book about motherhood after receiving it as a gift from her ‘mom friend’. Author Jessica Urlichs has since reacted to the 44-year-old’s endorsement of her book The Bloom Because of You with ‘shock’.
The Duchess of Sussex on Monday shared a short Instagram video that showed her rifling through the pages of New Zealand-based poet Jessica’s latest work. They Bloom Because of You is described as a collection of poems that is ‘a testament to the significance of mothering’.
In the video, Meghan appeared to be relaxing with Jessica’s book on a sunny spring day in Montecito, California, as she whispered it was ‘so good’. The clip showed Meghan had folded down the edges of certain pages in Jessica’s book, including one with the poem ‘Vows I Didn’t Write’ about marriage.
After Meghan’s social media shoutout, Jessica said she was ‘honoured beyond words’ by the Duchess’s praise in an Instagram Reel. Meghan left a comment under Jessica’s post as she revealed her ‘mom friend, Christina shared it with me’ and added The Bloom Because of You is her ‘current bedside book’. ‘From one mama to another – thank you,’ Meghan wrote.
Jessica’s new book was published on March 3 and the author said she couldn’t believe it was ‘touching so many mums around the world’ after Meghan’s glowing review.
‘Look who just shared my book,’ Jessica wrote over a video of her covering her mouth. She captioned the post: ‘When Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, shares your book, you go into shock, you share, and you celebrate. I’m so honoured beyond words. I love how this book is touching so many mums around the world. What a huge moment x’
Not to make everything about commerce, but I would imagine that Urlichs’ book will receive a significant sales boost because of this. The Meghan Effect for books and poetry! One of the funniest parts about this is I can already predict the reactions from the usual suspects. Queen Camilla will be furious because books are HER thing. Meanwhile, you-know-who is going to be photographed with a book or a poem in the coming weeks. Last thing: Harry recording his wife as she arranges flowers is so hot. He gets such pleasure from watching Meghan doing something which makes her happy and brings her peace.
The blooming Duchess 💐🥰
Harry – “It’s beautiful, so pretty and pink”
🎥Meghan Instagram Story pic.twitter.com/tls2us99xc
— ChrisBaronSmith (@ChrisBaronSmit1) March 16, 2026
It’s Princess Lilibet and the Sussex Chickens. 👑🐓
🎥Meghan Instagram Story pic.twitter.com/RpJRpYT5B4
— ChrisBaronSmith (@ChrisBaronSmit1) March 16, 2026
Bestselling Author Jessica Urlichs reacts to the Duchess of Sussex sharing her book.
“I’m so honored ❤️” pic.twitter.com/xj5uKRScnO
— ChrisBaronSmith (@ChrisBaronSmit1) March 16, 2026
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram and As Ever’s Instagram.
Harry talking fondly to Meghan while he films her is so cute and genuine. Love this couple.
Whats the dog ears mean? Like a make shift book mark ?
Dog ears mean bending back the top corner of a page to mark a favorite poem. It means she actually read the book.
Sort of puts that illiterate couple to shame. You can hear the outrage now: How dare she read books, and think of the poor book!
Harry just loves his wife❤️❤️❤️. Pretty flowers, funny chickens and her approval of the book of poems!! Let the nit picking begin because it will unfortunately 😞.
So wholesome, just what the doctor ordered in these awful times!
I love Jessica Urlichs’ reaction…
I think I will check Amazon for the book.
It’s so cute.
Sweet. Gorgeous flowers and poetry and chickens. What’s not to like?
They’re really just sweet and kind people who just want to live their lives in peace. This is how they were trying to do things on that rainy island but the rat press and his horrible family would not let them. Well now they’re gone and they are starving for beauty.
Heartwarming, charming, and I quite love those two chickens. I think they actually have names. Does anyone know what they are?
Oh I plan to order that book today for myself and a copy for my daughter in law as part of her birthday gift. I’m always looking for new books to read.
Adding that book to my order at the local feminist bookstore!
I joked about being horrified by the dog ears on Reddit and someone tried to rip me a new one. Geeze Louise. It was a sweet reel.
Enjoy seeing the Sussexes enjoying the life they fought hard to have
Meghan and Harry are popular in the US for the same reason that Jeremy Clarkson is not: before the rancid vile column stating he’d like Meghan to be stripped and paraded around the UK so people could lob shite at her — as a joke!!! — Clarkson was incredibly popular in the UK. He hosted a show that my then-boyfriend, now husband and I used to watch every Sunday night. He was a local hero. The show was syndicated everywhere *but* the US. Where it just didn’t land. Never hit the mark. Never found an audience. Because 80% of the humour was rooted in how *shite* it is, to be British, to cope with the hapless nanny state, the deplorable infrastructure, the apocalyptic weather, the woeful customer service, etc….. but he milked it for comedy. I have tried to explain this to people in the UK since I moved here nearly 20 years ago: Americans don’t find any of this stuff remotely funny. They just fix it. They sort it. They don’t standardise their misery. They make valiant attempts to overcome it. They don’t wallow in it. Meghan threw these people for a loop because she astutely summed up the morale of every British story: “yes, it’s awful, but we’re all in it together.” It’s like a shared addiction to pain, or binge drinking. And her logical response was to GTFO. I don’t know if she even realises how radical this psychic shock was to this island. LOL.
I remember when she had that interview with that ITV journalist Tom Bradby when they were in SA and said to him that it’s more than just surviving you have to be happy. People forget that the pursuit of Happiness is in our Declaration of Independence.