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Home / Lifestyle

Meghan Markle shows off perfect handwriting in note to mental health advocate Matt Haig

NZ Herald
4 Aug, 2019 08:29 PM4 mins to read

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Some of Markle's previous calligraphy gigs included Robin Thicke's wedding invitations and Dolce & Gabbana's celebrity correspondences. Photo / Getty Images

Some of Markle's previous calligraphy gigs included Robin Thicke's wedding invitations and Dolce & Gabbana's celebrity correspondences. Photo / Getty Images

Prominent mental health advocate and author Matt Haig has shared a thank you note he received from Meghan Markle after she featured one of his poems in Vogue.

In the note, the Duchess of Sussex praised Haig's book A note from the Beach as one of her favourites.

The poem encourages women to "not give a f***" about their beach bodies, and first appeared in his 2018 memoir Notes on a Nervous Planet.

View this post on Instagram

Hey, HRH the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is guest editor of the brand new issue of Vogue. She apparently Is a fan of Notes on a Nervous Planet and has included the whole of the ‘A Note From The Beach’ chapter in the magazine. This is the first few lines. She calls it her ‘favourite poem.’ A surreal honour. Glad she digs my stupid humour. The edition also includes her heroes, such as Greta Thunberg, Jameela Jamil and Michelle Obama. This whole year feels like an impossible dream to be honest. Probably means I’m about to have a piano land on my head. Anyway this is the first few lines.

A post shared by Matt Haig (@mattzhaig) on Jul 30, 2019 at 8:47am PDT

In her handwritten note, the Duchess thanks the author for being a "force for change", and says the "world needs more of you".

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"HRH Duchess Meghan called me a 'force for change' and now I can die happy," Haig wrote on Instagram."

The author also touched on his mental health battle, and how much the Duchess' letter means to him.

View this post on Instagram

Got home to some unusual mail, amid all the bills and magazines. An envelope from Kensington Palace. HRH Duchess Meghan called me a ‘force for change’ and now I can die happy. This year is beyond anything I imagined, years ago, getting rejection after rejection from publishers. I would love to go back in time and tell my young hopeless suicidal self about all of this magic to stay alive for. Persist. (I have now enrolled for handwriting classes.)

A post shared by Matt Haig (@mattzhaig) on Aug 3, 2019 at 11:07am PDT

"This year is beyond anything I imagined, years ago, getting rejection after rejection from publishers.

"I would love to go back in time and tell my young hopeless suicidal self about all of this magic to stay alive for. Persist. [I have now enrolled for handwriting classes.]"

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The letter was written on monogrammed "M" stock, with a crown logo.

Some of Markle's previous calligraphy gigs included Robin Thicke's wedding invitations and Dolce & Gabbana's celebrity correspondences. Photo / Getty Images
Some of Markle's previous calligraphy gigs included Robin Thicke's wedding invitations and Dolce & Gabbana's celebrity correspondences. Photo / Getty Images

Having previously worked as a calligrapher, the Duchess is well known for her striking handwriting.

Graphologist Tracey Trussell previously spoke to the Sun on what can be deduced about her personality based on her impeccable scrawl.

Trussell said: "She has a perfectionist streak and desire for beauty and the nice things in life."

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A note signed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following an Anzac Day dawn service. Photo / Getty Images
A note signed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following an Anzac Day dawn service. Photo / Getty Images

Trussell added: "She has the self-discipline to maintain the right profile in keeping with royal life.

"Nothing will stop her until she's satisfied her goal".

Analysing another piece of the Duchess' handwriting from a trip to Belfast last year, Trussell said her penmanship shows her deep desire to help others.

In the handwritten note, Meghan says: "You are so strong and so wonderful - your courage in strength in times of hardships is as admirable as your optimism and friendly nature." Photo / Channel 5
In the handwritten note, Meghan says: "You are so strong and so wonderful - your courage in strength in times of hardships is as admirable as your optimism and friendly nature." Photo / Channel 5

"She wants to do good deeds in life.

"She's determined in the way she goes about achieving her far-reaching ambitions."

Last year a "loving note" written by Meghan Markle to her "very shy" high school classmate was unearthed.

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In the handwritten letter, from the Duchess' time at Immaculate Heart High School in California, she tells her friend Michelle that she is "so strong and wonderful" and has a "beautiful spirit".

The note, which was undated and scrawled in immaculate handwriting, shows "the depth of her heart" say her old teachers, according to the Daily Mail.

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