Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Turn Archie's Iconic Beanie Into a Force for Good

Remember Archie's adorable bobble hat?

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry
(Image credit: Getty Images, Pool/Samir Hussein)

  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ordered 100 beanies from a New Zealand social enterprise to donate to people in need.
  • Make Give Live made baby Archie's iconic bobble beanie, which he wore in the Sussexes' 2019 end-of-year Instagram video.
  • "Meghan & Harry have generously given us a gift that will keep on giving well beyond this Christmas," the company shared on Instagram.

Remember this time last year, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry released an Instagram video reflecting on 2019—and delivered us the iconic image of Harry holding baby Archie, both wrapped up in beanies? Refresh your memory below, why don't you:

It turns out Archie's adorable bobble beanie was the work of New Zealand social enterprise Make Give Live, as People reports, which sees community crafters gather to knit beanies. And the organization operates a "buy one, give one" policy, meaning that for every beanie sold, another is donated to a person in need in New Zealand.

After Archie wore their beanie, Make Give Live experienced "the Archie effect"—a huge influx of interest in their products courtesy of the smallest Sussex. The company subsequently celebrated the little royal on his first birthday in May. "You won't know the influence you have yet but when you do I hope you use it to help others and make the world a better place like your awesome mama and dad," Make Give Live wrote on Instagram, sharing the photo of Archie in their beanie. "This special photo has made a huge difference for us and our whole community!"

Well, Meghan and Harry just upped the impact of Archie's beanie even further, by purchasing 100 Make Give Live beanies to donate to children in need across New Zealand—meaning 200 children will receive hats, thanks to the company's "buy one, give one" policy. On Instagram, Make Give Live said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern helped them get in contact with the Sussexes, and the couple responded with their huge donation.

"Meghan & Harry have generously given us a gift that will keep on giving well beyond this Christmas. Thank you @jacindaardern for letting them know we were trying to get in touch to wish them Merry Christmas and thank them for shining a light on the work we do with this image that captured hearts around the world," Make Give Live wrote on Instagram.

"We love that they share our values and wrote to us just before Christmas to order 100 beanies to donate to Archie's Kiwi friends (children in need in NZ) which, based on our model of Buy one - Give one, will enable us to donate 200 beanies," they continued. "They said that they wanted to help our members continue to enjoy making, connecting and supporting each other which has never been as important as now." Lovely!

Marie Claire

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.