Since she appeared on the scene the Duchess of Sussex has been seen in a variety of guises. There has been Meghan the actress, Meghan the humanitarian, Meghan the trailblazing duchess and Meghan the royal refusenik.
Now, as she turns 40, she is adopting another persona: Meghan the comedian. Launching an initiative to support women going back to work after the pandemic, she has released a short film that features two minutes of her bantering with the comic actress Melissa McCarthy.
The Duke of Sussex makes a brief appearance: off stage, silent, apparently trying to juggle.
The video shows Meghan supposedly trying to persuade McCarthy to join 40x40, an effort she is launching to encourage people to commit to giving 40 minutes of their time to support women going back to work. People she has already persuaded to volunteer include Adele, the fashion designer Stella McCartney and the feminist Gloria Steinem.
When Meghan says she has got an idea, McCarthy — who has dressed as if she is going to a Buckingham Palace garden party — asks if it is “another photoshoot where you are under a tree looking very peaceful”.
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Meghan replies: “Peaceful under a tree is me every day.”
There are jokes about tattoos, yacht parties and a Suits reunion (not on the cards, apparently). Instead, Meghan says, “I am asking 40 friends to donate 40 minutes of their time to help a woman who is mobilising back into the workforce”.
She adds: “Over two million women in the US alone and tens of millions around the world have lost their jobs due to Covid. And I think that if we all do it, and all commit 40 minutes to some sort of act of service, we can create a ripple effect.”
She does not spell out what can be achieved in 40 minutes: not 40 minutes a day, or 40 minutes a week or even a month.
Writing on the couple’s Archewell website, Meghan said that women were bearing the brunt of the crisis when it comes to unpaid labour, including schooling and caring for family.
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She wrote: “The latest research shows that fewer women than men will regain work as we recover from the pandemic. I believe mentorship is one way to help women regain confidence and rebuild their economic strength, and for my birthday I have asked 40 friends, activists, athletes, artists and world leaders to help kick off a global effort by contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women re-entering the workforce.
“With this time, I hope they each help someone advance a professional life on her own terms, and I hope that they inspire countless others to give 40 minutes of their time as well.”
Others who have committed to the scheme include the writer Deepak Chopra, the Canadian prime minister’s wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and Amanda Gorman, the poet who read at President Biden’s inauguration.
In the out-takes, McCarthy, star of such films as Bridesmaids and The Heat, bursts out laughing when she sees Prince Harry trying to attract attention by juggling outside the window. Meghan, who seemed not to have realised he was there either, burst out laughing too. Perhaps she let him in after that.
