Kind thoughts for Meghan Markle

In what will be the first official appearance by Meghan outside of California since March 2020, Meghan and Harry are to attend in person at the Global Citizen LIVE event. Whilst the event is being hosted from Central Park in New York, the 24-hour event will feature performances from top artists all over the world, including: Lagos, London, Los Angeles,  Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Sydney and other locations.

Back in May of this year Harry and Meghan acted as campaign chairs for Global Citizen’s VAX LIVE: "The Concert to Reunite the World" in Los Angeles,  during which Harry appeared in person and Meghan by video conference. That event focused on driving a worldwide effort to equitably distribute the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments around the world.

Prince Harry also spoke on the issue of vaccine equity when he recently presented the GQ Magazine Heroes Of The Year award to the entire team of dedicated scientists whose research led to the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID vaccine – notable a team almost entirely made up of women.

Global Citizen was founded by Hugh Evans who from an early age was involved in humanitarian work with the World Vision organization. Hugh has in the past founded or operated other non-profit organizations including the Oaktree Foundation; Australia’s first youth-run aid organization; and the Make Poverty History campaign in Australia.

In 2008, with grants from the United Nations, Australian government and British government, Hugh co-founded the Global Poverty Project (GPP) an education and advocacy organization aiming to increase the number and effectiveness of people taking action to end extreme poverty. In 2011 Global Poverty Project worked alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to execute The End of Polio campaign. In August 2012, GPP launched the annual Global Citizen Festival. 

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Global Citizen joined forces with the European Union to help finance COVAX which buy vaccines for countries who cannot afford them.

The sharing of COVID vaccines is only part of Global Citizen’s plans for the immediate and long-term future. In their 2021  white paper called “A Recovery Plan for the World – A Campaign to end COVID-19  for all and Kickstart the Global Recovery” Global Citizen sets out their five pillars of action for 2021 and beyond which are:

1. Ending the COVID-19 pandemic
2. Stopping the hunger crisis
3. Resume learning for all children
4. Protecting the planet and 
5. Promoting justice and equity for all

Global citizen announced that for their part, Prince Harry and Meghan will join the 24-hour global broadcast event in New York City’s Central Park, to continue their urgent work with other world leaders in the pursuit of global vaccine equity so as to end the COVID-19 pandemic for everyone, everywhere and,  hoping that the G7 countries and the European Union will commit to share at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses as well as calling on Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna to share their mRNA vaccine technology with the World Health Organization.

Global Citizen founder Hugh Evans tweeted “We are honored that Prince Harry and Meghan, are coming to #GlobalCitizenLive in Central Park event." Adding:  "Their leadership on vaccine equity is of global importance as we seek to end the pandemic for all."

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformegh

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

It was announced on what was Prince Harry’s 37th birthday that Meghan and Harry are included in the 2021 TIME 100 Most Influential People List,  in the ICONS category.

Meghan and Harry are introduced in the TIME 100 Most Influential People magazine article, by their charitable partner and friend Chef Jose Andres who is the co-founder of World Central Kitchen. Chef Andres speaks of Meghan and Harry's sense of urgency that drives Meghan and Harry as humanitarians and activists. 

Chef Andres points our that springing into action is not the easy choice for Meghan and Harry who although blessed through birth and talent, have been burned by fame. He says,   it would be much safer to enjoy their good fortune and stay silent. But instead Meghan and Harry turn compassion into boots on the ground through their Archewell Foundation,  and they give voice to the voiceless through media production.  

Chef Andres concludes that in a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, Meghan and Harry have compassion for the people they don’t know. They don’t just opine. They run toward the struggle.

In the same Magazine article Meghan and Harry wrote an article to congratulate another TIME 100 honouree, praising Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, the first woman and the first African to assume the position.  

So how did the tabloids react to the Meghan and Harry’s inclusion in the TIMES 100 list?

To be fair most did simple report the fact that Meghan and Harry were included in the TIME 100 list without much fanfare.  However, The UK’s Daily Mail, Sun, and Daily Mirror as well as the New York Post’s Page SIX spent more time reporting on the styling of Meghan and Harry in the three Photos in the Magazine. 

Maybe the press would have been happier to see Meghan and Harry in head to toe black and with balaclava’s covering their faces a.k.a. Kim Kardashian’s body suit at this week’s Met Gala. 

Keeping the newspaper theme going,  in case you missed my posts this week, the UK Daily Express printed a very brief apology to Meghan and Harry for a reporting error in an earlier news story.

The Daily Express published a correction which went as follows

WE recently reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had criticized the Queen's handling of their allegations of racism. The allegation of criticism reported in the book "Finding Freedom" did not come from the Duke and Duchess. The authors of "Finding Freedom" do not speak on behalf of the Duke and Duchess. We are happy to set out the correct position and we apologise to the Duke and Duchess.

The link to the original copy of the apology is on my blog and my twitter account https://twitter.com/JeanetteSongolo

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Prince Harry had been due to attend the 2021 Warrior Games at Disney in Orlando this week but unfortunately just one month ago it was announced that the in-person Games were cancelled due to COVID 19 health concerns. Typically, hundreds of elite athletes would have competed in adaptive sporting events, including archery, swimming, golf, indoor rowing, and wheelchair basketball, volley and rugby. 

To honour the veterans Harry teamed up with the first lady Jill Biden and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and some of the athletes in a zoom call,  that kicked started what will be a few days of virtual Warrior Games.

The Warrior Games is a multi-sport event for wounded, injured or ill US service personnel and veterans established in 2010. Since 2015 the Games have been organized by the US Department of Defense. Prince Harry, at the time serving as a Captain and helicopter pilot in the British Army, opened the 2013 Games which inspired him to create the Invictus Games. Harry has openly admitted to taking or stealing the idea for his Invictus Games from the Warrior Games. 

Dr. Biden is a military daughter, mother and grandmother. In 2011, then First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden came together to launch Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative calling all Americans to rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through health and wellness, child education, and employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. 

Both the Warrior Games and Invictus Games are supported by Fisher House Foundation.  Fisher House Foundation is a charity that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in hospital. 

Fisher House Foundation also operates the Hero Miles program, which uses donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members as well as the Hotels for Heroes program using donated hotel points to allow family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge. 

The Fisher House Foundation’s current CEO is Ken Fisher, grandson of the founder Zachary Fisher. Ken emceed the zoom conference today. 

Dr. Biden spoke first thanking all servicemen and women and their families and caregivers for their dedication.  She spoke of the heart and the commitment she saw when she attended the Invictus Games in London in 2014 and said that courage, sacrifice,  and resilience are words that sum up what she saw. 

Prince Harry spoke of first meeting Dr. Biden at the 2014 Games and thanked her for her continuing support of military families. Prince Harry gave a big hello to the Warrior Games athletes that were participating in the zoom call,  saying these games were all about them. He expressed his sorrow that the in-person Warrior Games could not go ahead knowing all of the hard work that athletes would have put in to train for the event. 

Harry spoke of the power of sport to get the service men and women and their families through the dark times to where they are now both physically and mentally.

Harry was pleased to see the partners, care-givers and children of the athletes on the zoom call. Like Dr. Biden, Harry spoke of the importance and strength of the families and friends who support injured service men and women. Of them being very much part of the team. 

The zoom call ended with some input from 2 injured servicemen and their families.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

The UK news has been abuzz this week following a report from the UK TV regulator Ofcom,  that many news outlets claim has cleared or vindicated TV host Piers Morgan after his offensive and potentially harmful comments about Meghan Markle,   following hers and Prince Harry’s March 2021 sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey.

This podcast will give you an overview of the findings of the Ofcom investigation.

Link to the full Ofcom report here https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/223746/Good-Morning-Britain,-ITV,-8-March-2021,-0600.pdf

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/and through Twitter https://twitter.com/JeanetteSongolo

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Prince Harry was literary back in the saddle when he hosted the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup in Aspen, Colorado, USA. Funds raised will be used to help to meet the funding for Prince Harry’s and Prince Seeiso's charity Sentebale,  an organization that supports vulnerable children in Southern Africa who are impacted by extreme poverty, inequality, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sentebale was founded by Harry and Prince Seeiso in 2006 following Prince Harry’s gap year to Lesotho in 2004. After ten years working in Lesotho, in November 2016, the charity launched operations in Botswana.

Sentebale means 'Forget me Not' and the name was chosen as a memorial to the charity work of the two Princes' mothers, as well as a reminder not to forget Lesotho or its children. 

Dr. Handa and his International Sports Promotion Society (ISPS Handa) has been sponsoring Sentebale’s polo matches for quite a few years. https://ispsgolf.com/

Dr Haruhisa Handa is a Japanese businessman, musician, writer and philanthropist, and has founded numerous charitable organizations both in Japan and internationally. He believes that sport has the power to inspire, transform, and unite people and communities across social, racial and socio-economic barriers. Handa is the founder of the Japanese and International Blind Golf Associations. 

Sentebale reported on their website that this year’s Polo Cup, together with Prince Harry's generation personal donation,  will allow them to operate at full scale and will mean more children and young people across Lesotho and Botswana will receive essential support, care, and build skills to be more resilient and self-sufficient in the future. 

In other Prince Harry news, Harry’s Invictus Foundation has become part of the newly launched WeThe15 campaign. WeThe15 describe themselves as sport’s biggest ever human rights movement to end discrimination. WeThe15 aims to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population.

Launching at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, WeThe15 say that like race, gender and sexual orientation, the organizers want to have a movement all persons with disabilities can rally behind. A global movement that is publicly campaigning for disability visibility, inclusion and accessibility.

https://www.wethe15.org/ is being spearheaded by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Disability Alliance (IDA) and will be working with a coalition of international organizations from the world of sport, human rights, policy, communications, business, arts and entertainment. Prince Harry’s Invictus Games Foundation is part of the coalition.

On the sports side of things WeThe15 say sport, and events such as the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, are hugely powerful vehicles to engage global audiences. There will be at least one major international sports event for persons with disabilities to showcase WeThe15 each year between now and 2030. 

On 19 August, more than 125 iconic landmarks, spanning 30 countries and multiple time-zones were lit up purple, the international colour for disability to celebrate the Launch of WeThe15. 

This was my 100th podcast in the Kind thoughts for Meghan Markle series. Thank you all for your continued support. 

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Aside and apart from video conferences and TV appearances it has been a long time since we have seen Meghan out in public at in-person events.  We last saw Harry and Megan at events together back in September and November 2020.  So it was very good news to hear that we may soon see Meghan and Harry back out and about in public.  

According to an upcoming article being published in People Magazine,  Meghan and Harry are coming to the end of their parental leave following the birth of their daughter Lili, and they are 'intentionally planning' to re-enter public life, planning a busy list of public engagements beginning in the fall and winter of 2021.

The People article comes as the Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand book "Finding Freedom" is being republished in paperback, with the paperback version of the book containing a new epilogue that is being excerpted in People Magazine.

The epilogue is said to include comments from sources close to Harry and Meghan about the fall-out from the couple’s controversial Oprah Interview and about Harry’s trip to the UK to attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral and attempts to repair his family relationships.  The updated book is already causing controversy in the media  - which will likely  boost sales!

Looking forward, according to Scobie and Durand, Meghan and Harry having spent a period of time prioritizing their mental health are now really excited to be back working with their causes and interests and expanding their in-person work. Meghan and Harry are said to have missed the human interactions that were very much a part of their former Royal lives. 

I can’t wait to see them both back in action.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

In carefully worded statements in which Meghan and Harry are clearly trying to avoid saying anything that might be construed as been overly political,  the couple have provided information on non-profit organizations who we might donate to if we are feeling the need to do something to assist the people in Afghanistan and Haiti.

In their statements posted to their https://archewell.com/ website, Meghan and Harry describe how the situation in Afghanistan is leaving us speechless and how the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti leaves us feeling heartbroken. 

Meghan and Harry encourage us to support a number of organizations doing critical work in these regions. They have posted a list of organizations for us to consider supporting,  two of whom they already work with,  being the World Central Kitchen who are back in Haiti helping out after the recent earthquake and Prince Harry’s Invictus Games Foundation who have urged Afghanistan war veterans around the World to reach out to each other in support.

Meghan and Harry are the first UK Royals to issue any sort of statement about the situation in Afghanistan.  They avoid giving any direct opinion on whether the decision to pull out US and other troops from the country is a good or bad move. 

What Meghan and Harry do say is the following:  “Archewell is committed to putting our values into action and we hope to do what we can to meet the moment by offering support to the military community and the troops who served in Afghanistan, as well as to the Afghan people facing violence and terror.”

Meghan and Harry are on politically safer grounds when it comes to offering support to the people of Haiti. No one should criticize Meghan and Harry for wanting to offer support to NGO’s helping the Haitians following the most recent natural disaster there. The Queen has also issued a statement of sympathy to the people of Haiti with the Queen saying that she was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the recent earthquake.

Meghan and Harry say in their statements that they recognize that many of us may feel helpless right now,  but we should have faith in the power of shared purpose, action, and commitment to our collective well-being. In other words, if we all chip in a few dollars together we can have a meaningful impact.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/ 

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Meghan Markle used her 40th Birthday to issue a call to action asking us to volunteer 40 minutes of our time to someone in need. For her part Meghan committed to doing the same and she asked 40 friends, activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to contribute 40  minutes of mentorship to support women re-entering the workforce. 

The initiative is called 40x40. 

Meghan got her birthday message via an open letter published on hers and Harry’s Archewell website, and in a novel little comedy skit that saw Meghan and comedian and actor Melissa McCarthy poking fun at themselves. 

In her open letter Meghan reminded us of the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on women, many of whom have had to adapt their work life or even give up their jobs to resume childcare or care for relatives as a result of the pandemic.

So, who are the 40 friends and associates of Meghan that she asked to join her in her 40x40 project ? According to an article written by Omid Scobie and published in Harpers Bazaar these include singer Adele, poet Amanda Gorman, Deepak Chopra, Kendi, Gloria Steinem, Chef Andrés, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Canadian Prime Minister’s wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and fashion designer Stella McCartney.

In other birthday news, members of the Meghan supporter’s club the Sussex Squad raised over $47,000.00 in honour of Meghan’s 40th Birthday,  with the money being donated to Myna Mahila foundation in India.

I love the fact that once again Meghan came out with something completely unexpected for her birthday, sending a message to the tabloids that they got it wrong, again! This is certain to annoy the media so we can expect some anti Meghan news by way of fall out over the next few days. 

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/ or through Twitter.

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

A very happy birthday to Meghan Markle who is turning 40.  The world’s media has been obsessively speculating about Meghan’s and Harry’s plans to mark this milestone birthday.  "Close sources" have reported many varied birthday plans with various media outlets suggesting they have the inside scope.  Basically, the press don’t really know what Meghan is planning for her birthday celebration and gosh how they hate that!

However she is choosing to celebrate, let’s wish her a joyful and a stress free birthday. I for one hope that she is spoilt rotten on what is her day. 

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

In an interview with US Fox News this past week, Thomas said that he would be petitioning the Californian Courts for rights to see his grandchildren in the very near future. So do you think that Thomas should petition the Court for some access with his grandkids? And if he does, is he likely to be successful? 

According to an article in US Weekly in the opinion of celebrity divorce attorney Mark Gross, Thomas would be unlikely to win his petition for visitation with Archie and Lili under Californian Law.  Mr. Gross told US weekly that whether or not the Californian Courts will grant Thomas visitation would depend of the closeness between the grandparent and their grandchild.  Mr. Gross argues, that without this established relationship between Thomas and his grandchildren his petition could be unsuccessful.

Here in Ontario in Canada,  the best interest of the child is the overarching test when it comes to decisions affecting children. In terms of grandparent access the lower courts have developed two competing views:

1       A pro-contact approach 

2       A parental autonomy approach (this view has support from the Ontario Court of Appeal)

The parental autonomy approach can be challenged. A grandparent can still ask a  Court to make an order for access in Ontario, even though the child’s parents are saying no. However, similar to the law in California, a grandparent would have to show the court that they have a positive and pre-existing relationship with the grandchild;  and the parent’s decision to deny access to the grandparent imperils this positive relationship;  and the parent has acted arbitrarily in denying access. 

Under Ontario law Thomas’s own actions could be his downfall. Thomas's continued airing  of his grievances about Meghan and Harry and his denigration of their parenting skills before the world press,  would be unlikely to reassure an Ontario Court that Thomas is considering the children’s best interests ahead of his own.  Also, a Court might not want to grant access to a grandparent when when doing so could subject the child to conflict. Thomas has in the past thrown insults at both Harry and Meghan. Even in his Fox Interview this past week Thomas call Meghan and Harry ‘bad’ parents claiming that they had made mistakes in raising Archie and Lili.

US Attorney Mark Gross told US Weekly that these issues are also problematic under Californian Law. 

One can image a Court worrying that if they did grant access visits to Thomas would he then parade them on the TV or take photos and sell them to the world’s media?

These cases are never easy and I am sure the judges hate having to decide them, especially those judges who are grandparents themselves. Many a judge has tried to persuade the parties in such cases into mediation or some sort of therapeutic counselling knowing that a Court case is really going to make an unfortunate situation much worse.

Let me know what you think - Should Thomas be given Court ordered access to his grandkids?

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili. You can reach out to me through my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/

Show written and produced by Jeanette Songolo.

Please keep listening for future podcasts on all things Meghan, Harry, Archie and Lili and in the meantime watch out for other posts on all things Sussex on my blog at https://www.kindthoughtsformeghanmarkle.com/