Meghan Markle Left Empowering Messages on Bananas at a Sex Worker Nonprofit

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published 1 February 2019

When Meghan Markle moved to England and married Prince Harry, she dedicated herself to a life of service—something she clearly feels strongly about, considering all her work for Grenfell fire victims and women's rights in just her first year. In Bristol on Friday, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry dropped into a sex workers' nonprofit unannounced, where Markle left messages of hope and love for women seeking to free themselves from street sex work. Literally—she left messages on bananas.

Hannah Furness, a royal correspondent, tweeted : "During a tour of the kitchen, the Duchess said: “I have an idea. I saw this project this woman had started somewhere in the States on a school lunch programme. On each of the bananas she wrote an affirmation, to make the kids feel really, like, empowered...It was the most incredible idea – this small gesture.”Announcing “I am in charge of the banana messaging!”, she wrote a series of messages on the bananas to say: “You are strong”, “You are loved”, “You are brave”, “You are special.”"

The moment Meghan decided to sign the bananas at @One25Charity with inspirational messages for sex workers. pic.twitter.com/X5MCxE96iXFebruary 1, 2019

(Image credit: Marie Claire )

Meghan Markle Visited the Old Vic In the Snow

The women helped by the charity, One 25, will receive Meghan's messages on bananas in the bags of food the nonprofit will give them later today. (Sorry to ruin it for you, guys.)

Here are some of the bananas Meghan left messages on:

"You are strong." "You are brave." "You are loved." Each banana message was left with a heart symbol, to show that Meghan is sending her love to the victims of coerced sex work (a very different situation from consensual sex work, FYI—coerced street sex work bears more resemblance to sex trafficking.)

The visit by Meghan and Harry came unannounced, suggesting that the royals wanted to keep this visit low-key, as well as to protect Meghan, who is expecting her first child this spring, with extra security measures.

👑STOP PRESS👑 #RoyalVisitBristol at One25 today! Our #SecretVisit was kept under wraps to protect Bristol’s most vulnerable women. So delighted the Duke & Duchess of Sussex made it through the snow to show their support! #HarryandMeghan @PeachesTweets @KensingtonPalace pic.twitter.com/h83BYgY44sFebruary 1, 2019

Here's Meghan and Harry meeting with Anna Smith, CEO of the charity:

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And here she is writing the messages:

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As an FYI, Meghan is doing all this work in a single day while heavily pregnant and wearing heeled boots. I haven't even left my apartment today?

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Jenny is the Digital Director at Marie Claire. A graduate of Leeds University, and a native of London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She was the first intern at Bustle when it launched in 2013 and spent five years building out its news and politics department. In 2018 she joined Marie Claire, where she held the roles of Deputy Digital Editor and Director of Content Strategy before becoming Digital Director. Working closely with Marie Claire's exceptional editorial, audience, commercial, and e-commerce teams, Jenny oversees the brand's digital arm, with an emphasis on driving readership. When she isn't editing or knee-deep in Google Analytics, you can find Jenny writing about television, celebrities, her lifelong hate of umbrellas, or (most likely) her dog, Captain. In her spare time, she writes fiction: her first novel, the thriller EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, was published with Minotaur Books (UK) and Little, Brown (US) in February 2024 and became a USA Today bestseller. She has also written extensively about developmental coordination disorder, or dyspraxia , which she was diagnosed with when she was nine.