Meghan Markle has made it clear that she’s willing to put her name on the push for paid family leave in the U.S., and now she’s going above and beyond for the other people in the fight, too. This week, the Duchess gifted the workers of PL+US, the campaign group organizing to get family leave adopted by 2022, each with vouchers for $25 at Starbucks, which they can access through the Sussexes’ Archewell website. It’s a gift to thank them for working overtime to get paid family leave adopted in the next Congressional spending bill, which is painstakingly working its way through both chambers.
Just last week, the Duchess wrote an impassioned open letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on why the issue is so important to her, and how much it would help American parents. The letter angered some politicians—notably, Republicans who thought that the Duchess should stay out of politics, though social media users were quick to point out that family leave has never been considered a partisan issue before the Democrats started considering a robust family leave deal in their upcoming spending package. In particular, Markle wrote that she took up the banner for paid family after the pandemic exposed “long-existing fault lines” in how parents can find affordable childcare, job security, and medical bills.
Neil Sroka, Comms Director for PL+US, called Meghan’s donation of the Starbucks gift cards “[u]nbelievably classy...and necessary” in a tweet. And though she has been vocal about her support for paid family leave, Meghan was quiet about the coffee gift to the workers at PL+US. The news was shared only by Sroka’s tweet, and news about the gift doesn’t show up anywhere on the Archewell site.
In a way, this sweet gesture shows how personally she’s taking the fight: It’s not about publicity, it’s about achieving change and thanking the people who are working to get things done.
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