Meghan Markle donates Archie's 'loved but outgrown' clothes to HIV charity during visit
Archie's Invictus Games onesie was among clothes donated
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Duchess of Sussex has donated bags of clothes outgrown by her four-month-old son Archie to other babies during a visit to an HIV organisation in Cape Town.
On the third day of the royal’s official tour of South Africa, Markle visited Mothers2Mothers, an organisation dedicated to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV that trains and employs women living with the disease.
During the visit, the duchess spoke with women from Khayelitsha who act as “Mentor Mothers” for families in the community, before giving the charity two bags of “loved but outgrown” clothes that previously belonged to Archie and her friends’ children.
“It’s so important we’re able to share what’s worked for our family and know that we’re all in this together with each other,” the duchess said. “So we wanted to share something from our home to each of yours.”
In addition to Archie’s Invictus Games onesie, Markle also donated a onesie by Mère Soeur that read “The Future”.
“Here’s a few little things that I thought would be helpful,” she said. “I just thought that, in the spirit of community, what’s so nice is to be able to share some of the things that we have at home as well.
“And so we can obviously make sure everything you need is provided for you, but we’ve brought some of the things that my friends and I used for our kids and Archie that don’t fit anymore.”
While visiting with the charity, the duchess also encouraged the staff and their children to join her in sitting on the floor and playing with the toys.
According to Markle, she wanted the young children in attendance to be allowed to play.
“I just think if Archie were here with all those toys on the floor and I made him sit in the chair, it would be so unfair!” the 38-year-old said as she sat on the floor - a gesture that Mothers2Mothers spokeswoman Limpho Neteko called “amazing”.
“She sat down on the floor with them, played with the toys and she was just amazing. It was just amazing,” Neteko, who manages 84 mentor mothers in 16 health facilities, told Town and Country.
Since Mothers2Mothers launched in 2001, the organisation has created more than 10,000 jobs and reached more than 11m women and children under the age of two.
Earlier in the day, Archie made his first public appearance of the royal tour alongside his parents, when he was introduced to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments