Meghan Markle Asks for the Same Things Each Year on Her Birthday, Inspired by Her Mother
Birthdays are often a time for us to reflect. Occasionally, we may even ask ourselves a series of private questions.
We might wonder if others truly respect or admire our choices, for example. We might question whether we’re truly making a difference in this world.
Meghan Markle’s 37th birthday is, perhaps, set to be more prominent and glittering than most. After all, it’s her very first as the officially-minted Duchess of Sussex.
And sure, The Mirror reports that she’ll be spending her special day rubbing shoulders with royalty and attending a high-society wedding in Surrey, British Columbia. She is the wife of Prince Harry, after all.
But every year, the former “Suits” star makes a charmingly humble and benevolent wish. At the same time, she uses her personal birthday milestone to pay tribute to her beloved mother, Doria Ragland.
Back in 2016, on the now-shuttered website The Tig, the actress acknowledged Ragland’s enduring influence. “My mom has always said that birthdays are your own personal New Year,” explained Markle.
In her various public comments on the site, Markle was also incredibly candid about her struggles with insecurity and personal identity. She described “grappling with how to fit in” during her teen years, noting that “my high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, the Filipino and the Latina girls.”
She also wrote that her 20s were “brutal.” She characterized much of this decade as “a constant battle with myself, judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/as hip/as smart/as ‘whatever’ as everyone else.”
Markle has always been refreshingly honest about her early struggles with self-identification as a biracial woman. She would often use her periodic posts on The Tig to share specific ways she’d learned to cope.
She recalled, for instance, busying herself with activities and causes during her lunch hour at school. “Not so that I was more involved,” she admitted, “but so that I wouldn’t have to eat alone.”
But as Markle gradually settled into her 30s, she began to embrace herself and feel much more content. “I am enough exactly as I am,” she told Elle UK in 2015.
True to her signature style, Markle used her posts on The Tig to help reassure others that they, too, were more than enough. She reflected at one point that it takes time to be happy, “to not just choose that happiness, but to feel it.”
So, on her birthday each year, as a special tribute to Ragland’s unwavering motherly love, Markle asks women around the world to grace her with one very specific gift.
True to form, that wish was initially shared on The Tig. “I want you to be kind to yourself,” Markle said, “I want you to challenge yourself.”
“I want you to stop gossiping, to try a food that scares you, to buy a coffee for someone just because, to tell someone you love them … and then to tell yourself right back,” Markle added. “I want you to find your happiness.”
On her birthday in 2016, Markle further explained that she simply wants to share her incredible joy and gratitude. The official website of the British Royal Family outlines even more of the ways she pledges to help others feel more peace, reassurance, and contentment.
The site describes how Markle’s early life experiences “helped to shape her lifelong commitment to causes such as social justice and women’s empowerment.” Quite simply, the Duchess of Sussex is using her royal influence to help encourage, comfort and inspire her fellow human beings.
So perhaps, in the end, it’s no coincidence that Markle ended up being part of the royal family. After all, her birthday holds special significance for Queen Elizabeth: The Queen Mother was born on the very same date.
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