Meghan Markle has shared a sweet photograph of her daughter Lilibet playing with a trendy £35 plush toy from the British brand Jellycat that is also a favourite of the Wales children.
The adorable snap of the toddler was part of the Duchess of Sussex’s Instagram post to mark International Day of the Girl Child this weekend.
Meghan, 44, can be seen holding hands with Lilibet, four, in the picture taken at their home in Montecito, California.
The photo showed Lilibet, who was dressed in pink from head to toe, clutching her beloved £35 ‘rainbow bag’ from Jellycat as Meghan looked lovingly at her.
The British toy maker, which became famous for its distinctive cuddly toys with smiling faces, is equally popular with the Prince and Princess of Wales’s children.
In May, Prince William admitted the plushies are priceless ‘currency’ in his household during a chat with nine-year-old Mateo Robayna, the brother of the late cancer campaigner and photographer Liz Hatton, at a Buckingham Palace garden party.
In fact, one of the earliest portraits of Princess Charlotte showed her gleefully posing with a stuffed puppy toy from the London-based brand founded in 1999.
An official portrait of Charlotte, then only six months old, released by Kensington Palace showed the young royal playing with her cherished ‘Fuddlewuddle Puppy’ that is described as ‘adorable, loveable, squidgeable, irresistibly silky-soft, and huggable’.
The duchess’s latest Instagram post proves the youngest Sussex has the same taste in toys as her cousin, after Lilibet was first seen with the colourful accessory in June.
The youngest child of Meghan and Prince Harry carried the rainbow bag from Jellycat’s popular ‘Amuseables’ collection while foraging for fruit with her mother.
In Meghan’s most recent Instagram post, Lilibet can be seen clutching the toy while wearing a pink outfit, including a t-shirt and jeans, while out for a stroll around the grounds of their Montecito mansion.
The caption read: ‘To all the girls – this world is yours. Do everything you can to protect your rights, use your voice, support each other.
‘We will do the same for you. It’s your right and our responsibility. Go get ’em, girl! Happy International Day of the Girl.’
Meghan also included a clip of Lilibet running through the sprawling backyard as she commemorated International Day of the Girl Child.
The observance day was established by the United Nations to highlight gender inequality around the world and promote girls’ rights to education, healthcare, and freedom from discrimination and violence.
It was first observed on October 11, 2012.
Jellycat toys, which have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, are equally cherished by Prince William and Kate’s children, after the future King conceded they were akin to ‘currency’ in his household.
During a heartfelt conversation with Matteo, the brother of inspirational photographer and cancer activist Liz, the royal couple accepted two Jellycat toys on behalf of the brave teenager who tragically died last November.
Matteo specifically selected the toys – a lemon tart and a pickled onion – based on his sister’s love of lemon drizzle cake and all things pickled, as he told William and Kate that Jellycats were Liz’s favourite and she would give them to people who ‘made her happy’.
‘My children will love these, They are children’s currency,’ William responded at the time.
Liz, who inspired the nation with her courage as she battled a rare form of terminal cancer, was invited by Willia top Windsor Castle last October to photograph an investiture ceremony.
The teenager from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was on a mission to complete a ‘bucket list’ of photography assignments after she was diagnosed with an aggressive desmoplastic small round cell tumour.
She passed away on November 27, 2024, as the Prince and Princess of Wales honoured Liz as a ‘brave and humble young woman’ in their tribute.
When Matteo met the royals in March, he presented the rare ‘Pickled Onion’ Jellycat to William while gifting Kate the ‘Tarte au citron’ toy.
The lifestyle brand has been crafting luxurious toys for nearly 30 years, but it has witnessed a boom in sales in recent years – in part due to the ‘kidulting’ trend among Millennials and Gen Z.
In the last year alone, the popularity of Jellycat grew by a whopping 50 per cent, according to Glimpse.
These toys retail for anywhere between £20 and more than £100, as fans rush to complete their collections – including scouring resale websites for one-off, limited-edition designs.
‘Creating original and innovative soft toys in London since 1999, Jellycat continues to combine luxurious fabrics with designs that are sometimes quirky, sometimes cute but always with a little something different that makes them stand out from the crowd,’ the website reads.
These designs include food and drink items such as the ‘Toastie Vivacious Red Aubergine’ and ‘Sassy Sushi Egg’, farm yard animals like the ‘Cluny Cockerel’, fantastical creatures like the ‘Lavender Dragon’, and everyday objects like coffee cups and salt and pepper shakers.
Meghan’s latest post featuring Lilibet and her prized possession comes after she and Prince Harry were named ‘Humanitarians of the Year’ during Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Gala which took place on Thursday.
As they accepted the award, Meghan expressed the couple’s fears about how social media exposure will impact their children, Lilibet and Archie, six.
She said: ‘Our children, Archie and Lili, are just six and four years old. Luckily still too young for social media, but we know that day is coming.
‘Like so many parents, we think constantly about how to embrace technology’s benefits, while safeguarding against its dangers.’
While the Duke of Sussex, 41, was honoured as ‘a humanitarian, mental health advocate, environmentalist, and military combat veteran’, Meghan was noted as a ‘mother, wife, entrepreneur, and philanthropist’.
