Meghan Markle has come under fire for the bedtime ritual she performs for her children.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, revealed she sends emails to her children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, ‘almost every night’.
The former actress said the idea came from one of the mum friends.
Each message contains ‘random pictures’ and snippets of their life on the given day – a photo of them at breakfast or details of something funny they did.
The royal uses the email addresses as a ‘virtual scrapbook’ for the children to look at in the future.
Speaking on The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, the duchess said: ‘At some point in their life, I’ll say “Here’s an email that I’ve been keeping for you your whole life.
‘Here’s everything and every moment where I wanted to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you.”
‘For them to be able to look back and go, “Oh my gosh, she has loved us so much!” That’s, I think, the best part about being a mom.
‘It’s not about the grandeur of a gesture, it’s about “I see you.”‘
Meghan Markle had to wipe away tears as she recounted the unusual nightly habit performed for her children
On The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, the Duchess said she emails her two children nightly with images from the day
While there have been overwhelmingly positive responses to the ‘sweet’ and ‘lovely’ idea, others online have not been as impressed.
One angry internet user wrote: ‘She’s copying someone again. This has been a thing for a long time but she screwed up this grift too.
‘You don’t email every night because that would be dumb’.
The trend of virtual scrapbooking, and in particular saving images by emailing them, has been around since the inception of email.
Many have suggested that Meghan ‘stole’ the already established trend, although she credits a fellow parent in her interview.
Another person speculated wildly: ‘Wow. That’s a desperate woman trying to ensure her kids love her.
‘Meghan knows they won’t be happy with her separating them from her family and cousins in the UK! Meghan’s scared!’
One X user shared a screenshot from the popular anonymous confessions page ‘Fesshole’ that read: ‘I have five grandkids. Each time one was born, I set up an email address for them.
Meghan shared unseen photographs of ‘my little loves’ Archie and Lilibet on Instagram yesterday (Pictured: Lilibet and Meghan in the garden)
Both the children have the same fiery red hair as their father, the Duke of Sussex, and seem to have developed strong American accents
‘I send them random emails of things they did or said, special occasions like birthdays, things that would be forgotten in time.
‘When they’re 18, I’ll give them their email address and password.’
This was taken as evidence of Meghan’s having stolen the idea, with one user writing online: ‘Duchess of Plagiarism is at it yet again!
‘Don’t let her fool you, however. She never sent a single email to her rental children.’
The account behind the comment is called ‘Harry, Meghan’s Spare’ and has dedicated their online presence to ‘exposing inconsistencies in Harry and Meghan’s public image & actions’.
‘I’m just so proud of them,’ Meghan said of her kids in the interview, as she told host Jamie she wasn’t ‘expecting’ the rush of emotions rising up in her.
‘They’re just so great,’ she continued, before quipping: ‘This is why it’s so nice to not have makeup on.’
It comes after the Duchess shared unseen photographs of ‘my little loves’ Archie and Lilibet on Instagram yesterday as the Sussexes spent a ‘cosy weekend’ at their home in Montecito.
Harry and Meghan recently attended the Time100 Summit, where Meghan spoke on stage
Princess Lilibet could be seen with her hair down and wearing a pink top, while Prince Archie wore a navy blue, long-sleeved shirt.
Both the children have the same fiery red hair as their father, the Duke of Sussex, and seem to have developed strong American accents since the family relocated to the United States in 2020.
Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the royal family in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, where they have lived for over five years.
Lilibet’s adorable American accent was heard for the first time as the three-year-old gave her one-word verdict on her mother’s jam this weekend.
Meghan posted a video on Instagram in which she can be heard asking Lilibet what she thinks of her strawberry jam while preparing a fresh batch of the sweet treat.
‘It’s beautiful,’ the toddler gushed, as her Californian accent shone through.