Royals

Meghan Markle wants her fans to be kinder to themselves in honor of her birthday.
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Meghan Markle Once Blogged About What She'd Like For Her Birthday In A Candid Post

“I want you to find your happiness.”

by Casey Suglia

Long before she was married to a prince and a member of the royal family with eyes across the world constantly on her, Meghan Markle was an actress who also ran a popular lifestyle blog. And every once in a while, one of her posts on the now-defunct site will resurface. Just recently, in fact, ahead of her 40th birthday on Aug. 4, an entry the Duchess of Sussex wrote about her birthday wish is going viral for its lovely message.

Years ago, on her 33rd birthday in 2014, Meghan was starring on TBS’ Suits when she wrote about being “happy” on her personal lifestyle blog, The Tig. And for her birthday that year, Meghan asked her readers and fans to be kind to themselves in an essay on her site.

“I am 33 years old today. And I am happy. And I say that so plainly because, well…it takes time,” she wrote at the time in the now-deleted blog post. “To be happy. To figure out how to be kind to yourself. To not just choose that happiness, but to feel it.”

She added that when she was in her 20s a casting director gave her some advice: “You need to know that you’re enough. Less makeup, more Meghan.” With that in mind, she wrote to her readers, “You need to know that you’re enough. A mantra that has now engrained itself so deeply within me that not a day goes by without hearing it chime in my head... You are complete with or without a partner. You are enough just as you are.”

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“I want you to challenge yourself,” she continued. “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. I want you to find your happiness. I did and it’s never felt so good. I am enough.”

Though she is often the target of gossip tabloids on the other side of the pond, Meghan has had a lot to celebrate in the past year. At the age of 39, the Duchess of Sussex got settled in her new home in California, devoted herself to charity work alongside her husband, Prince Harry, revealed the hardships she went through as a working member of the royal family, and welcomed her second child, a daughter named Lilibet Diana. And that’s, of course, only what she’s shared with the public.

And though she’s opened up about her struggles with her mental health that she has had in the past, as she shared during her and Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, it’s apparent that Meghan has followed through on her birthday wish from years ago. So as the duchess requested, why not treat yourself to a nice cup of coffee in honor of her 40th birthday this week.