Duchess Meghan reveals Thanksgiving plans, talks parenting and advocates for parental leave
Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, is opening up about life in California with Prince Harry and their two children.
In an interview with comedian Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday, the duchess said that her family is planning to spend Thanksgiving at home and "just sort of relax and settle in" -- similar to how they spent Halloween. While they didn't go out, 2-year-old Archie, who "loves to dance," briefly dressed as a dinosaur and 5-month-old Lili went as a skunk.
Welcoming Lili has been a big adjustment for Meghan and Harry -- and for Archie too.
"He loves being a big brother, [but] ...someone told H and I that, 'When you have one kid, it's a hobby and two children is parenting,'" Meghan said. "They had that moment of, 'This is fun. Oh, this is how it is now.' [But] he's so sweet."
Meghan, 40, and Harry, 37, relocated to California from the U.K. after they stepped back as senior members of the royal family early last year. Meghan told DeGeneres that Harry "loves" their life on the West Coast and that their family is "just happy."
"We moved here during lockdown, exactly when things shut down, so we've just been able to spend a lot of time at home and creating our home," she said, "but I think it's just the lifestyle, and the weather is pretty great."
However, there is one element of American life that Meghan is desperately hoping to change. The duchess told DeGeneres that she's committed to advocating for a federal leave program for all Americans, as the U.S. does not currently provide paid leave for all new parents.
"Everybody knows, especially if you have had a child and even if you haven't, you know how hard it is and how critical it is in those first few weeks if not months to be together as a family," she said. "The fact that we don't offer that here is something that now is a mom of two, I will do everything that I can to make sure we can implement that for people."
