Meghan Markle called two Republican Senators on their private numbers using her royal title to urge them vote for paid parental leaves. It emerged on Wednesday that Meghan Markle had called the senators and used her royal title to do so. It shocked the politicians.
The move is just the start for the Los Angeles-born mother-of-two, who is now hoping to be part “a working group that works on long-term paid leave”, according to Senator Kirsten Gilbrand.
She called Republican Senators. Susan Collins from Maine Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia. Both said they were shocked Markle called them out of the blue and noted how she used her royal title as a lobbyist for the cause.
It comes after she wrote a letter directly to the top Democrats, lobbying them on this issue, and then bought gift cards for Starbucks for workers at an activist group in a high-profile stunt to raise awareness about the cause.
The Duchess of Sussex on October 20 wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer advocating for paid family leave – a letter that was handed out to several media outlets.
On Wednesday Politico reported that she had – following a conversation with Kirsten Gillibrand, senator for New York – taken her lobbying a step further and picked up the phone.
Meghan Markle. The Duchess and Prince Harry are pictured together at the Global Citizen Live festival held in Central Park on September 25, 2018. She began a lobbying campaign to get paid parental leave in October.
Shelley Moore Capito (a Republican senator for West Virginia) told Politico Wednesday that she was shocked by Markle’s call.
Gillibrand was one of the most vocal advocates in the senate’s paid parental leave campaign. He gave the Duchess numbers for Susan Collins (senator for Maine) and Shelley Moore Capito(senator for West Virginia).
Moore Capito, 67, told Politico: ‘I’m in my car. I’m driving. It says that caller ID has been blocked.
She said that she expected Joe Manchin to answer the phone, the other senator from West Virginia. Manchin, a moderate Democrat has been leading the charge for Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. He has made concessions to progressives and persuaded moderate Republicans like Moore Capito into agreeing.
Moore Capito said, “Honestly, it was Senator Manchin.”
‘His calls come back blocked.
“And she goes?Sen. Capito?
‘I said yes.
“She said, “This is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.”
Moore Capito said, “I couldn’t figure how she got mine number.”
Collins stated that she was also called by the 40 year-old.
Markle also called Susan Collins, Republican senator from Maine, She said, “I told her there were many different approaches, and people were still working on it.”
After quitting the royal family in 2020 and moving to Los Angeles, Markle expressed her amusement at Markle’s use of her British title to lobby U.S. senators.
Collins said, “Much to my surprise she called me on the private line and introduced herself to me as the Duchess Sussex, which is kinda ironic.”
She told Politico that she was happy to speak with her, but that she is more interested in hearing what Maineans have to say about paid time off.
Collins later told The New York Times: ‘She just weighed in that she thought paid leave was really important, and I told her there were a lot of different approaches, and people were working on it.’
Biden had initially hoped to push through plans for a 12-week paid family and medical leave program, costing $500 billion over 10 years.
The benefit fell from 12 to 4 weeks to $2 trillion, from $3.5 trillion. This was in order to reach an agreement with Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Democrat.
Gillibrand stated Wednesday that she had given Markle’s numbers to senators. She said it was only the beginning.
Gillibrand stated that she spoke to each of the female senators and let them all know that Gillibrand was going to reach out to them because she had only completed two calls.
“She’s going call other people, so I let them be aware in advance.
Gillibrand added: ‘She wants to be part of a working group to work on paid leave long term and she’s going to be.
“Whether this comes to fruition today or later, she’ll join a group of women who hopefully will work together on paid leave.”
Kirsten Gillibrand is a Democrat senator from New York. She claimed that she gave Moore Capito and Collins’ phone numbers to Markle to contact. Gillibrand is a vocal advocate for paid parental leave.
Markle’s latest intervention stokes speculation that she may see herself in a political role in the future, much like her heroines Angelina Jolie & Amal Clooney.
Some even speculated that she could be thinking about running for political office – or even the presidency, according online hype.
Markle wrote in her October 20 letter: “I’m no elected official, and I don’t want to be a politician.”
“I am writing you at this crucial time – as a mother – to advocate to receive paid leave.
Pelosi and Schumer were asked to read the extraordinary 1,030-word-long letter and consider her plea ‘on my behalf of my family Archie and Lili and Harry’.
Markle, pictured with Prince Harry and her firstborn Archie, made a rare political declaration on Wednesday
The duchess spoke out about her humble beginnings and said that her family was struggling when she was a child. This despite her well-documented middle-class upbringing in which she attended private primary school and secondary schools with her Emmy-winning lighting director father’s salary of $200,000 a year.
And she now lives in a $14million sprawling mansion in Montecito, California, complete with designer touches. She also signed lucrative deals with Spotify, Netflix and other companies that are estimated to be worth well above $150 million.
Markle wrote that he grew up eating Sizzler’s $4.99 salad bars.
“I knew how hard my parents worked in order to afford this because, even at five dollars, eating out was something special and I felt lucky. I began working at the local frozen yogurt shop when I was 13.
Markle said, “I waited tables and babysat, and then I piecemealed jobs together for odds and ends.”
However, she failed to mention the $750,000 California state lottery win her father scooped in 1990, which funded her secondary education at $9,412-a-semester Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles.
Meghan also attended a private primary school, Hollywood’s Little Red Schoolhouse nursery. This was her first school since she was two years old.
The primary school is now priced between $20,000 and $28,300 per-year and was paid for entirely by the taxpayers.Her father Thomas and her airline pilot mother Doria were paid their salaries.
She went on to study at Northwestern, a college in Illinois, that would have cost $24,000-$28,000-a-year for tuition when Meghan studied there from 1999-2003.
The duchess, however, described her work at 13 years old and worked several jobs ‘to cover odds’. She also wrote that saving money was a luxuary in her family’s life.
“I worked my whole life and saved whenever and wherever I could. But even that was a luxury. It was all about making ends meets and having enough money to pay my rent, and my car gas.
She continued, “I assume many of your constituents will have their own version,”
Meghan lived in a series of childhood homes in Los Angeles – including a second-floor apartment on Providencia Street, in Woodland Hills, where she lived with her parents and half-siblings Thomas Jr and Samantha.
Meghan lived on the property from the age of two until it was sold. It was the largest and flashiest home she ever lived in as a child.
Meghan lived in a number of childhood homes in Los Angeles, including a second-floor apartment at Providencia Street in Woodland Hills.
After her parents divorced in 1983 Meghan and Doria moved into a top-floor apartment in Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire neighborhood.
Meghan grew up in humble homes, but she received a private education from kindergarten through high school. From the age of 11 to 18, she attended Immaculate Heart High School on Franklin Ave in Los Angeles.
She attended a prestigious private kindergarten and nursery school called Little Red Schoolhouse. It cost $18,800 per year for kindergarten.
Meghan Markle gave fans a rare look inside the Californian home she shares with Prince Harry today in a’special message” shared on her 40th Birthday
In her letter, Meghan acknowledged that she has not suffered the same struggles as many parents who don’t have paid leave.
She said, “In June, my husband, and I welcomed our second baby.”
We were happy, just like any parent. We were overwhelmed like many parents. We were overwhelmed, like many parents.
After the birth in June of their daughter Lilibet, Meghan & Harry were able four months of family leave. They then went back to work in September.
After having Archie in 2019, the duchess was able to take some time off, staying at home for four more months before returning to work.
According to reports, the couple also employed nannies in the UK to care for their children. They fired many of them after Archie was born in 2019.
Their first nanny was fired because she was allegedly unprofessional and the second was only working night shifts. Reports at the time claimed that their nanny had returned to the UK after they had traveled to the U.S. to avoid the pandemic.
Meghan and Harry are pictured together with their newborn son Archie, at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019.
The duchess continued to describe her humble beginnings. She stated, “I grew-up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler,”
Harry and Meghan were photographed in September, during a visit of New York City. With a camera crew, the couple went to One World Observatory.
Meghan attacked the American economic system.
“Many of the economic systems in America are past their expiration dates, and too many Americans are forced into making poor decisions about what is most important to them.
A Meghan spokesperson said that Meghan cares deeply about families around the world and advocates for them in the US. She had also partnered with three campaign organisations on the issue.
She followed up her letter with a October 30 donation to Paid Leave US (an activist group).
Neil Sroka, director of communications for the organization, was elected to. Twitterto write: “The Duchess (aka #MeghanMarkle), bought everyone at @PaidLeaveUS some coffee while we’re working overtime on #SavePaidLeave.
Markle, pictured at her home in California, was hailed ‘classy’ after buying coffee for employees working overtime to campaign for paid family and medical leave in the US after writing to politicians pleading for it to be made a ‘national right’
The Duchess of Sussex gave a $25 Starbucks voucher to workers at PL+US. This group is running a national campaign for paid family and medical leave by 2022.
“Unbelievably classy… and essential.” Truly honored to know that she has our backs in this fight to win’.
Online, the gesture received mixed reactions. Some said it made a huge difference and others called it pathetic. Others suggested that the act might be a publicity stunt.
The Duchess is the latest to enter the parental leave debate.
The couple moved to LA in March 2020 and were seen volunteering at a food bank within the month.
Markle and her husband spoke out about race and policing in June as protests broke down against George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020. This was something they had previously avoided.
Markle stated that on July 14, Markle told UN 2020 Girl Up Leadership Summit, “You are organizing Black Lives Matter protests all over the globe, you are creating films for your peers to be activist leaders, and you are reforming criminal justice. You are telling your school boards that we need more mental healthcare resources for all ages. You are leading coalitions to end gun crime.
“You are standing up and asking to be heard, but you also want to own the conversation.”
A slice of happy family: Meghan, 12, eats a cake at Donovan’s 1993 birthday party.
Meghan celebrating her 11th birthday in 1992 with her mother Doria. Photos taken by her uncle Joseph Johnson
They also continued to talk about mental health.
On October 14, 2010, Meghan in a podcast reflected on being ‘the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female’ of 2019 and the ‘almost unsurvivable’ impact that had on her psyche.
She said that you have two options: either you can try to break through, or you can possibly break down.
“But, use it to break through.
As the November 2020 election approached, they encouraged people to vote. Harry stunned many by admitting that he hadn’t voted before.
In stark contrast to British tradition, which prohibits royal involvement with politics, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke out on the U.S. election.
Harry stated before the election that ‘it’s vital that as we approach November, we reject hate speech and misinformation online negativity’
Harry met Markle who was a UN advocate to gender equality and women empowerment. Markle was more open with her views.
“Every four years, we hear the same thing: “This is the most important electoral election of our lifetime.” But this one is,’ she said to Time magazine prior to the election.
“When we vote, our values and voices are put into practice.”
Gloria Steinem, feminist icon and activist, was hosted at her Montecito residence for a conversation filmed in collaboration with Makers, a media company that aims to “accelerating the women’s movement through stories from real-life experiences.”
Markle and Steinem talked about the importance and benefits of voting. They also urged for a more open discussion regarding issues of race or power.
Markle disclosed that she had miscarried a month prior to Christmas. There was a lot of grief and praise for Markle.
She gave birth in June to Lilibet, their second baby.
Markle has returned to politics in recent months, visiting New York in Sept and attending meetings at U.N. before speaking at Global Citizen Live, an annual festival of activism in Central Park.
Markle (left) met Gloria Steinem for a “backyard chat” ahead of the election
She is set to appear on November 9 at an online conference organized by the New York Times to discuss ‘women reaching economic and professional parity.’
The mother-of-2 will be present in a half hour session called “Minding the Gap” alongside Mellody Hobson is Co-C.E.O. Mellody Hobson, Co-C.E.O., President, Ariel Investments and the chairwoman at Starbucks Corporation.
The session is described as “two groundbreaking figures” who will share their views.
“How can women achieve economic and professional parity?” The blurb states that two pioneering figures will join us to discuss top down solutions and reflect on their shared experiences in creating opportunities for others.
Other speakers at the conference include Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, as well as the CEO for Pfizer Albert Bourla and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple.
Other stars include Matthew McConaughey (with whom Prince Harry did an explosive interview for his Armchair Expert podcast) and Dax Schephard (with whom Prince Harry spoke).